The Wormhole token (W) on Solana has the mint address 85VBFQZC9TZkfaptBWjvUw7YbZjy52A6mjtPGjstQAmQ, with 6 decimals. On Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base and Optimism it uses one address, 0xB0fFa8000886e57F86dd5264b9582b2Ad87b2b91, with 18 decimals. CoinGecko's token registry lists these addresses, and the block explorer for each EVM chain labels the contract as Wormhole Token. Treat any W token at a different address as a different asset.
The addresses, chain by chain
| Network | Address | Decimals | Explorer label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solana (SPL) | 85VBFQZC9TZkfaptBWjvUw7YbZjy52A6mjtPGjstQAmQ | 6 | Listed by CoinGecko |
| Ethereum (ERC-20) | 0xB0fFa8000886e57F86dd5264b9582b2Ad87b2b91 | 18 | "Wormhole Token (W)", official site wormhole.com |
| Arbitrum One | 0xB0fFa8000886e57F86dd5264b9582b2Ad87b2b91 | 18 | "Wormhole Token (W)", official site wormhole.com |
| Base | 0xB0fFa8000886e57F86dd5264b9582b2Ad87b2b91 | 18 | "Wormhole Token", tagged "Bridged Token" |
| Optimism | 0xB0fFa8000886e57F86dd5264b9582b2Ad87b2b91 | 18 | "Wormhole Token (W)", official site wormhole.com |
As of 25 October 2026 the explorers showed 9,602 holders on Ethereum, 16,702 on Arbitrum, 231,695 on Base and 5,318 on Optimism. Holder counts change constantly. Use them to spot a fake with only a few hundred holders, not as a fixed fingerprint.
The decimals differ between the two sides. If you add W to a wallet by hand, enter 6 on Solana and 18 on the EVM chains. A wrong value makes your balance display incorrectly.
Native on every chain, not a wrapped copy
Wormhole announced on 25 April 2024 that "native W tokens are now available on Solana, Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, and Base". The move to these chains used Wormhole's Native Token Transfers (NTT) standard. W is an SPL token on Solana and an ERC-20 on the EVM chains.
Wormhole's documentation describes two NTT modes:
- Burn-and-mint: tokens are burned on the source chain and new ones are minted on the destination.
- Hub-and-spoke: tokens are locked on a hub chain, and equivalent tokens are minted on the spoke chains.
A component called the Global Accountant makes sure that "the amount burned and transferred on chains never exceeds the amount of tokens minted". Moving W between supported chains through NTT therefore keeps the same asset. Wormhole's announcement adds that these transfers happen without liquidity pools.
BaseScan still tags the Base contract as "Bridged Token". That label comes from the explorer and does not change which address is correct.
Is this W token the real Wormhole W?
Answer four quick checks about the token in front of you to see whether it matches Wormhole's published W addresses.
Which network holds the W token you are checking?
- Solana → next question
- Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base or Optimism → next question
Does the mint match 85VBFQZC9TZkfaptBWjvUw7YbZjy52A6mjtPGjstQAmQ character for character, and does the explorer show 6 decimals?
- Yes, every character and 6 decimals → next question
- No, or only the first and last characters match → Treat it as a different asset
Does the contract match 0xB0fFa8000886e57F86dd5264b9582b2Ad87b2b91 in full, and does the explorer name it Wormhole Token with symbol W and 18 decimals?
- Yes, full address, name, symbol and 18 decimals → next question
- No, or only part of the address matches → Treat it as a different asset
Does the token show a supply far above the 10,000,000,000 W maximum?
- Yes, far above 10 billion → Treat it as a different asset
- No, within the 10 billion cap → next question
Is a site or contact asking you to connect a wallet to migrate, upgrade or claim W, or asking for your seed phrase?
A W token at any other address, with the wrong decimals or with a supply far above 10 billion is not Wormhole's W, even if the name and logo match.
The W 2.0 announcement describes no new contract, migration, swap or claim, Wormhole team members do not contact users first, and no legitimate party needs your seed phrase. Check that any Wormhole page sits under wormhole.com.
The address, decimals and supply match Wormhole's W. Cross-check one independent registry such as CoinGecko, and confirm the network before sending: a Solana address and an EVM address are not interchangeable.
This checks only what you enter against the article's published addresses, decimals and supply cap; it cannot read the blockchain, and it does not cover the Solana mint's holder count, mint or freeze authority, or creation date.
Supply figures that help you spot a fake
Wormhole's tokenomics post of 7 February 2024 and its W 2.0 post of 17 September 2025 give these figures:
- The maximum supply is 10,000,000,000 W.
- The initial circulating supply was 1,800,000,000 W, and W launched on 3 April 2024.
- The W 2.0 upgrade (17 September 2025) kept the 10 billion cap and said "There is no inflation being introduced to W." From 3 October 2025, annual unlock cliffs for several allocations were replaced by bi-weekly unlocks over 4.5 years.
- The W 2.0 announcement describes no new contract, migration, swap or claim.
A token called W whose supply is far above 10 billion is not Wormhole's W.
How to verify a W address in under a minute
- Compare the full string. Fake addresses often copy the first and last few characters. Compare every character, or paste both addresses into a text search.
- Open it in the explorer for the right chain. On Etherscan, Arbiscan, BaseScan or the Optimism explorer, the real contract is named Wormhole Token, has the symbol W and 18 decimals, and links to wormhole.com. On a Solana explorer, look for 6 decimals and the mint address above.
- Cross-check one independent registry. CoinGecko's Wormhole entry lists the Solana, Ethereum, Base and Arbitrum addresses from the table.
- Check the network before sending. A Solana address and an EVM address are not interchangeable. If you send to the wrong network, or mix up which chain holds your W, you can lose funds without any scammer involved.
Scams that borrow the W name
- Same name, different address. Anyone can deploy a token called "W" or "Wormhole" with a copied logo. The address is the only reliable identifier.
- "Migration", "v2" or "claim" sites. The W 2.0 announcement describes no migration or claim step for holders. Treat any site that asks you to connect a wallet to "upgrade" W as a wallet drainer.
- Look-alike domains. Wormhole tells users to check that any page linked to Wormhole is hosted under the wormhole.com domain.
- Unsolicited support. Wormhole says its team members will not contact users first or ask for personal information. No legitimate party needs your seed phrase.
Crypto assets are volatile and you can lose your capital. Nothing here is investment advice.
