Methodology

This page explains how a contract comes to be listed in our register, what each listing contains, and what a listing does and does not mean.

Scope

The register covers token contracts on BNB Smart Chain, Ethereum and TRON whose name or symbol imitates Tether (USDT) or USD Coin (USDC). We add other categories only where a precise detection rule exists for them.

The detection rule

A contract meets the official-contract mismatch rule when both of the following are true:

1. its name or symbol imitates USDT or USDC, including look-alike characters such as "USD₮" or letters from other alphabets; and
2. its contract address is not the official contract address for that stablecoin on that chain.

We maintain a registry of official contract addresses, with the published source for each one. The current list appears on our home page.

What we record

For each contract we record its address; its name, symbol, decimals and total supply; the address that deployed it; the address returned by its owner() function, if it has one; the deployment transaction and time; the addresses that distributed the token; the number of wallets that received it, as a total only; the first and last dates on which activity was observed; and the first native-coin transfers that funded the deployer's network fees, with public exchange labels where available.

We do not record or publish the addresses of the wallets that received the token.

Human review

Nothing is published automatically. Every detection enters a review queue. An analyst checks each fact against the public block explorer and then approves, edits or rejects the listing. A contract that meets the official-contract mismatch rule is marked as high confidence, but it still requires an analyst's approval.

Known services are excluded

Exchange hot wallets, bridges, decentralised exchange contracts, token factories and other known service addresses often appear in the history of a counterfeit token because they are used by everyone. We maintain a list of known service addresses and exclude them automatically. They are never shown as addresses associated with a deployment. Where a deployer was funded from an exchange, we show the exchange's public label, not its address as an associated address.

Operator networks

We group contracts into an operator network where they share a deployer address, an owner address or a gas funding address, excluding known services. An analyst approves each network before it is published.

What a listing means

A listing states that a token imitates a recognised stablecoin and is not that stablecoin, and sets out on-chain facts about it. "Addresses associated with the deployment" are the addresses that, according to the public record, deployed, own, funded or distributed the token.

A listing does not identify any person. It is not a finding that any person has committed an offence. A person who controls an address may have done so for reasons we cannot see on-chain.

Limitations

The register does not include every counterfeit token. The absence of a contract from the register does not mean that a token is genuine. The facts on each page are accurate as at the review date shown on that page.

Corrections

Anyone may ask us to review a listing under our dispute policy. We correct errors promptly and record the date of each change.