Trench School

Learn the trench, then read it.

Plain definitions, concrete examples, and the mistake that usually follows. No profit promises, no shortcuts.

Wallet
Beginner
Basics
A keypair that controls tokens on Solana and signs transactions.
Example
You connect a browser wallet to a DEX interface to approve a swap.
Why it matters
Everything on-chain is attributed to a wallet, so wallet history is the evidence trail.
Common mistake
Sharing a seed phrase or private key. No legitimate tool ever asks for one — TRENCHGPT never will.
Quick check
Who should you ever give a seed phrase to?
Contract address
Beginner
Basics
The unique mint address that identifies a specific token on Solana.
Example
Two tokens can both use the ticker 'CAT'; only the mint address distinguishes them.
Why it matters
Tickers are not unique. Address-first identification is the only safe way to talk about a token.
Common mistake
Buying from a ticker in a screenshot instead of verifying the mint address.
Quick check
What uniquely identifies a token?
Market cap
Beginner
Market
Circulating supply multiplied by current price.
Example
1B circulating tokens at $0.001 is a $1M market cap.
Why it matters
It sets the scale of what a move implies, but says nothing about whether you can exit.
Common mistake
Treating market cap as money that exists in the pool. It does not.
Quick check
Market cap tells you…
FDV
Beginner
Market
Fully diluted valuation: total supply, including locked or unissued tokens, times price.
Example
A token with half its supply vesting has an FDV roughly double its market cap.
Why it matters
A large gap between market cap and FDV means future supply can dilute holders.
Common mistake
Comparing one token's market cap against another's FDV.
Quick check
A market cap far below FDV implies…
Liquidity
Beginner
Market
The capital sitting in the trading pool that absorbs buys and sells.
Example
A $40k pool cannot absorb a $10k market sell without a large price impact.
Why it matters
Liquidity, not market cap, decides whether your exit exists.
Common mistake
Sizing a position on market cap and ignoring pool depth.
Quick check
Which number best predicts exit difficulty?
Slippage
Beginner
Market
The difference between expected and executed price, driven by pool depth and order size.
Example
A 2% slippage tolerance can fail on a thin pool, or fill much worse if set to 30%.
Why it matters
High slippage settings on thin pools are how traders donate value to sandwich bots.
Common mistake
Raising slippage until the trade fills, at any cost.
Quick check
Slippage grows with…
Bonding curve
Intermediate
Launch mechanics
A formula-priced launch mechanism where each buy raises price along a fixed curve.
Example
A launchpad token trades on its curve until it 'graduates' to an AMM pool.
Why it matters
Curve-phase price action is mechanical, not a market consensus signal.
Common mistake
Reading early curve candles as organic demand.
Quick check
On a bonding curve, price is set by…
Graduation
Intermediate
Launch mechanics
The point where a launchpad token migrates from its curve into an AMM liquidity pool.
Example
After graduation, liquidity depth and LP ownership become the relevant risk questions.
Why it matters
Risk changes shape at graduation: curve mechanics stop, LP and holder structure start.
Common mistake
Assuming graduation itself is a quality signal.
Quick check
Graduation means…
AMM and LP
Intermediate
Launch mechanics
An automated market maker prices swaps from pooled reserves supplied by liquidity providers.
Example
An LP position holds both the token and the quote asset that make up the pool.
Why it matters
Who owns and can withdraw the LP is a first-order risk question.
Common mistake
Ignoring whether LP tokens are burned, locked, or freely withdrawable.
Quick check
Withdrawable LP means…
Snipers
Intermediate
Launch mechanics
Automated buyers that enter within the first blocks of a launch.
Example
A cluster of wallets buying in block one, then distributing into later retail flow.
Why it matters
Heavy sniper concentration means early supply sits above you, waiting for buyers.
Common mistake
Copying sniper entries that are structurally impossible to reproduce.
Quick check
Sniper concentration mainly affects…
Bundles and bundled supply
Advanced
Launch mechanics
Multiple buys submitted in a single atomic transaction group, often to acquire supply at launch.
Example
One actor funds eight wallets and bundles their launch buys to look like distributed demand.
Why it matters
Bundled supply disguises concentration; holder counts look healthy while control is not.
Common mistake
Reading holder count without checking funding-source clustering.
Quick check
Bundled supply distorts…
Insiders, cabals, KOLs, CTOs
Intermediate
Community
Insiders hold non-public advantage; cabals coordinate privately; KOLs move attention publicly; a CTO is a community takeover of an abandoned token.
Example
A CTO relaunches socials for a token whose original deployer disappeared.
Why it matters
Who is organising attention explains flow better than any single chart pattern.
Common mistake
Treating a KOL mention as evidence of quality or endorsement.
Quick check
A CTO is…
Holder concentration
Intermediate
Risk
The share of supply held by the largest wallets, excluding pools and burn addresses.
Example
Top-10 holding 46% of supply outside pools is high concentration.
Why it matters
Concentration determines how much supply can hit the market at once.
Common mistake
Counting the LP or burn address as a 'whale'.
Quick check
Which addresses should be excluded from top-holder analysis?
Wallet clusters
Advanced
Risk
Distinct addresses linked by shared funding, timing, or transfer patterns.
Example
Six wallets funded from one source within a minute of each other.
Why it matters
A cluster is effectively one actor, so real concentration can be far higher than it appears.
Common mistake
Assuming separate addresses mean separate people.
Quick check
Clustered wallets should be treated as…
Wash trading and volume spoofing
Advanced
Risk
Self-dealing trades that inflate reported volume without real buyer demand.
Example
Volume 40x liquidity with almost no growth in unique buyers.
Why it matters
Fake volume creates the appearance of interest that ranking feeds then amplify.
Common mistake
Trusting volume without checking unique buyers and trade-size distribution.
Quick check
A wash-trading tell is…
Narrative, meta, derivative
Beginner
Narrative
The story that makes a coin legible; the meta is the currently dominant story type; a derivative reuses one.
Example
When animal mascots run, the tenth mascot launch of the day is a derivative of the meta.
Why it matters
Narrative decides how far attention can travel beyond the first buyers.
Common mistake
Confusing a derivative's early move with the strength of the original.
Quick check
A derivative token usually has…
Cult coins and attention liquidity
Advanced
Narrative
Attention is the scarce input; a cult coin retains holders after attention rotates away.
Example
A token whose community keeps posting through a 70% drawdown.
Why it matters
Retention through drawdowns is one of the few durable signals in memecoins.
Common mistake
Mistaking a paid-attention spike for a community.
Quick check
Cult behaviour shows up most clearly…
Entries, scaling, invalidation, exits
Intermediate
Execution
A plan defines where you enter, how you add, what proves you wrong, and how you leave.
Example
Invalidation: liquidity drops below the level your exit size requires.
Why it matters
Without a written invalidation, every loss becomes a story instead of a decision.
Common mistake
Sizing by conviction instead of by pool depth and drawdown tolerance.
Quick check
An invalidation level is…
Why screenshots and win rates mislead
Advanced
Execution
Screenshots are unverifiable, follower counts are purchasable, win rate ignores size, and unrealized PnL is not money.
Example
A 78% win rate with one catastrophic loss can still be net negative.
Why it matters
Track records need sample size, realized results, and drawdown to mean anything.
Common mistake
Following a wallet because a single screenshot looked extraordinary.
Quick check
Win rate alone is insufficient because it ignores…

Learn the trench, then read it.

Wallet

Contract address

Market cap

FDV

Liquidity

Slippage

Bonding curve

Graduation

AMM and LP

Snipers

Bundles and bundled supply

Insiders, cabals, KOLs, CTOs

Holder concentration

Wallet clusters

Wash trading and volume spoofing

Narrative, meta, derivative

Cult coins and attention liquidity

Entries, scaling, invalidation, exits

Why screenshots and win rates mislead