A DeFi trader at a Tier 1 market-making firm replaced manual dashboard workflows with automated insight pipelines using the Nansen API. By integrating endpoints like Token Screener, Smart Money inflows, and PnL leaderboards, the team built custom dashboards that filter top-performing tokens based on smart trader behavior and conviction signals. This enabled faster token discovery, clearer visibility into credible buyer activity, and improved decision-making — ultimately transforming noisy on-chain data into alpha-generating insights.

• Built custom dashboards to identify emerging token trends

• Leveraged wallet PnL and leaderboard data for conviction filtering

• Shifted from manual UI workflows to automated insight pipelines

“Nansen’s API transforms complex on-chain data into actionable trading insights with remarkable simplicity. It’s already uncovering hidden layers of data — turning blockchain noise into alpha-generating signals in just a few API calls.”

— DeFi Trader at a Tier 1 market-making firm

The Problem

DeFi Trader works at a high-frequency trading and market-making firm that’s been operating in crypto for more than 10 years. Before using Nansen’s API, his workflow in using Nansen to find insights involved manual analysis across user interfaces, requiring tedious cross-referencing of different dashboards to build conviction around a token’s performance and who was buying it.

“Manual analysis using UI, cross referencing results manually.”

The team needed a more systematic, scalable way to surface token intelligence — one that could cut through the noise and highlight credible market signals, like early smart money movements or strong buyer conviction.

“Want a systematic approach to finding on-chain intelligence or alpha.”

Prior to Nansen, they had also experimented with other API products, but it didn’t deliver the performance filtering, token metrics nor buyer classification they were looking for.

The Solution

With the Nansen API, this DeFi Trader and his team created custom dashboards and lightweight internal tools to track top tokens in real time and highlight smart buyer behavior.

“Created dashboards / UIs to filter and focus on hot new tokens with a fun 3D UI, tracking what top pnl traders are trading.”

They integrated a number of Nansen API endpoints, including:

• Nansen Profiler
  
  

• Address PnL summaries
  
  

• Top PnL leaderboard
  
  

• Smart money inflows
  
  

This setup allows them to identify which smart traders are entering a token, understand their historical performance, and separate high-conviction buying from short-term volatility.

“Provided our team with real-time insights as to what top traders and funds are trading, finding token gems early.”

This framework gave them conviction scoring — the ability to filter tokens not just by hype, but by the credibility of who was entering.

The Results

With Nansen’s API, this DeFi Trader’s team now runs an automated token radar that surfaces early signals without needing to sift through dashboards manually.

“Much improved decision-making from finding trending tokens and who is trading them.”

Key improvements include:

• Faster detection of new token trends
  
  

• Real-time visibility into smart trader positions
  
  

• A quality filter based on PnL and win rate data
  
  

• Reduced reliance on fragmented dashboards

“Smart money filter with high quality labelling for higher confidence screening, and PnL + win rate data for good quality performance filtering.”

The result? A more agile, data-driven trading desk that can react faster and with greater conviction.

Setup at a Glance

Summary

This DeFi Trader and his team turned Nansen’s API into a powerful decision engine — one that replaced fragmented dashboards with real-time, wallet-level conviction data. From smart money inflows to PnL-ranked trader activity, they now operate with greater speed, clarity, and accuracy.

“Nansen’s API transforms complex on-chain data into actionable trading insights with remarkable simplicity.”