ERC20 Tokens Contract Addresses - Make Sure You're Swapping the Right Tokens (Tutorial for N00bs)

I keep seeing posts of people falling for scam tokens or general uncertainty around ERC20 tokens - some buy a token that pretends to be the real one, some approve spending limits unknowingly, some wonder why their tokens "don't appear" on MetaMask.

Let's put an end to that.

First thing first, here are two legit websites that you're most probably already familiar with:

• https://coingecko.com/
• https://coinmarketcap.com/

I recommend bookmarking them so that you know you use the right websites. I'll use CoinMarketCap as an example, but the process is the same if you use CoinGecko as well.

As you already know, we can see various details about the token over here. Here's an example for AAVE:

https://preview.redd.it/19qa2ethgznb1.png?407&format=png&auto=webp&s=b60124b8ce18ea1c869414ad12b6466d9c20f294

Just below this section, there's a segment called Contracts.

Here you can see the contract address of the token, so instead of typing the name in Uniswap/SushiSwap/1Inch/whatever, you can use the contract address instead.

If you're not on Ethereum mainnet, make sure to click on the dropdown menu to see all the contract addresses on different networks:

https://preview.redd.it/e8gvv1m1hznb1.png?427&format=png&auto=webp&s=0dfd39208acf0794795538a816f3a4fb06f59842

Just click on the "copy" button and you're good to go.

Then, you can copy it on any DEX you use and it'll give you the correct token:

https://preview.redd.it/r3or463dhznb1.png?624&format=png&auto=webp&s=cbc3253b1588efda8d3517abb9edfb2bceec0ff9

Or you can go to MetaMask, click "Import Token" and you'll be sure that you're importing the correct one to show there.

Hope this guide helps and it'll make your life easier in decentralized finance.

Happy DeFi adventures! ????