Base tutorial
ERC-20 names and symbols are useful labels. They are not proof of origin. If a token borrows a project name, the contract address is where the real work starts.
The checklist
name(), symbol(), decimals(), and totalSupply().owner() or any equivalent admin path.Signal strength
Anyone can deploy a token with a familiar name. A symbol is a label, not a signature.
The creation transaction, source code, and owner path tell you who could actually act on the contract.
The project’s own site and channels should say whether the token is official. Silence is not consent.
The mental model
ERC-20 tells wallets and apps how to talk to a token. It does not tell you whether the token is endorsed, audited, immutable, fair, or tied to the project whose name it uses.
That is why a verification flow needs both contract-level checks and identity-level checks. The chain can show what happened. The project still has to tell you whether it meant for that thing to happen.