In the past few months, a wave of scam tokens has hit the blockchains, copying the exact name and ticker symbol of legitimate cryptocurrencies. This has caused confusion across multiple platforms, including Merlin.
We take portfolio accuracy seriously, so when this problem surfaced, our tech team moved quickly to investigate and find a permanent fix.
What’s Happening
Because anyone can create a token on a blockchain, scammers have been minting fake versions of popular coins. They give these tokens the same ticker symbol as well-known assets, so they appear genuine when they show up in your wallet.
Here’s the issue:
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Most portfolio trackers pull in assets based on ticker and name alone.
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When a fake coin uses the same ticker as the real one, the system can’t tell them apart.
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This leads to balances being displayed incorrectly, sometimes by huge amounts.
One of the most common examples we’ve seen is Chainlink (LINK). A wallet might show hundreds of thousands of “LINK” tokens, but only a fraction are actually legitimate.
Why This Matters
Incorrect balances aren’t just an inconvenience. They can affect your entire strategy:
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You might think you have more than you actually own.
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Performance tracking becomes unreliable.
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If you use portfolio data for tax planning, fake assets can create reporting headaches.
For our users who rely on accurate numbers to make decisions, this was a real problem.
Our Solution
Rather than accept this as an unavoidable quirk of the crypto space, we developed a contract-level filtering system that checks the origin of every asset before it’s included in your balance.
This process works by:
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Identifying fake tokens reported by our users or spotted by our team during internal reviews.
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Flagging and filtering them so they no longer appear in your portfolio balances.
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Continuously updating the filter list as new scam tokens emerge.
This hands-on approach means we can adapt quickly and remove bad tokens as soon as they’re identified.
What This Means for You
With the filtering system in place:
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Your balances reflect only your real holdings.
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Strategies and alerts are based on accurate data.
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You can track your portfolio without the distraction of spam assets.
We’ll keep monitoring and expanding the filter list to stay ahead of new scam coins.
How You Can Help
If you notice a suspicious asset in your Merlin dashboard that you believe is a fake or if your balance is showing incorrectly, please let us know. Your report helps us act quickly to remove it for you and other users.