Phantom Wallet and Solana: Fees, Solscan, Tax

Anyone sending SOL from an exchange to their own wallet for the first time asks three questions in this order: which wallet for Solana, what does it cost, and why is the amount not quite the same afterwards. The Phantom wallet is the most searched answer to the first question in Germany. The second and the third are answered here with figures we measured on-chain ourselves this morning: a simple transfer on Solana costs 0.000005 SOL, a good half of a tenth of a cent. Receiving a token for the first time, by contrast, ties up 0.00148844 SOL once, and that money is not gone, but it is not available either for the time being.

The difference between those two amounts is why transfers fail even though the screen shows enough balance. It is also why an account holding a hundred old meme-coin positions has more SOL tied up than most users assume. This guide walks through the practice: setting up the wallet, understanding fees, getting there from the exchange, reading the explorer, spotting fakes, revoking approvals. Plus what applies legally and for tax purposes in Germany. It belongs to our series on the large networks, alongside Ethereum with Etherscan and gas and the overview of networks, bridges and explorers.