How to display a custom token
- Author
- CRYPTO PORT Editorial
- Published
- Updated
- Reading time
- 5 min
In short
A token your wallet does not show can be added to the list by registering its contract address. Doing so changes nothing on chain — the balance was always there, just not displayed. Take the contract address from the issuer's official site or a reputable explorer, never from a search result or an advert.
Key points
- Not displayed does not mean lost — usually it is unregistered, or you are on the wrong network
- Get the contract address from the issuer's own official information
- Fakes copy the name and symbol exactly, so the address is what distinguishes them
- Leave unfamiliar tokens that arrive unrequested alone
Definition
Registering a token's contract address so a wallet that did not recognise it automatically will show your balance of it.
A wallet only lists tokens it knows about. There are countless tokens on chain and no app can display them all automatically, so a token you were sent often fails to appear. That alone is not cause for alarm: the balance is recorded on chain and adding a display entry makes it visible.
Having a fixed order of checks saves time. First, confirm you are on the right network — the same token name existing on several chains is common, and simply looking at the wrong one accounts for a great many cases. Second, check you have the right account selected. If it still does not appear, open your address in a block explorer and see whether it is listed among your token holdings. If it is there, what remains is purely a display matter.
You register it through an item meaning 'add token', generally at the bottom of the token list or in a menu. Entering the contract address usually lets the app read the symbol and decimals automatically, though some ask you to type them. Names and placement vary by app.
What matters is where the contract address comes from. Anyone can issue a token that copies a real one's name and symbol exactly; the address is the only thing that tells them apart. Take it from the issuer's official site or from an established block explorer's own verified display, not from an address pasted on social media or behind a search advert. 'How to check a token contract' covers what to look at.
You may also find unfamiliar tokens that simply arrived. Anyone can send to any address, and this is used as bait: the token looks valuable, you are steered to a site to swap it, and an approval there drains the wallet. Hide it if you like, but the rule is do not touch it and do not connect to anything for it.
Watch out for
- · Names and symbols are trivial to copy — always confirm identity by contract address
- · Do not try to cash out tokens that arrived unrequested; that is the entry point for approval-draining scams
- · Adding a token creates no value — being displayed says nothing about whether it is worth anything
Frequently asked questions
Does adding a token cost a fee?
Registering a token is a local setting inside the wallet, not an on-chain transaction, so it carries no network fee. Fees apply when you actually send or swap the token.