Despite the fact that It’s been several years since the ICO boom, discerning between fact and fiction surrounding a project remains challenging. While crypto experts can rely on exclusive circles for insight and advice, the uninitiated are left to their own devices. This often includes skimming whitepapers and clicking around a project’s team page.

While that certainly helps, the transparent nature of the majority of projects grants the public an incredible level of access to its development, code, and team. The majority of traders and investors may not have access to exclusive insights, but they can certainly use this public information to assess a coin or, more commonly, to get to the bottom of all the fud and hype.

We’ve put together a list of topics, questions, and tips to help you get started in each category. Consider this a starting point for your deeper investigation.

Products and Services

Examine the product or service. If neither exists or if it’s incomplete, turn your attention to the whitepaper.

Is it competing in a crowded market? Lower competition means the project may have the advantage of capturing market share.

Does it solve a problem experienced by many? Determine if it has the ability to capture market share.

If the market is crowded, does this project have unique selling points to help it stand out?

Is it clear how their tokens will be used? If there’s no clear connection between the token and its project, ask yourself how the token will derive value.

Team

Learn more about the people behind the project to decide whether you see it succeeding under their leadership.

Beyond the core team, also look at advisors and board members.

Be a digital sleuth and dig through each person’s online presence.

Does the team have a track record you can trust?

Community

Determine if the right people support the project and whether its general audience adds substance to channels like Twitter and Reddit.

Is someone from the team actively responding to questions?

Do they regularly engage and update the community?

How big are these communities?

Distribution and Trading

Examine recent trading activity and learn more about the cryptocurrency’s distribution process.

How much is in circulation?

Who holds the remainder? If it’s a single entity, can you trust that they won’t dump it all?

Development

Take a look under the hood through Github or the project’s Reddit profile to see if the product being built is on its way to becoming the product that’s promised.

Is there any code to look at?

Is there a talented team behind the effort?

How active is their progress?

Is work distributed among a team? While not completely negative, dependence on a single developer can be risky at such an early stage.

Traction

The number of people who own a coin or are knowledgeable about it can affect its legitimacy and adoption.

What’s its total social following?

How many Twitter mentions does it have?

How often does it appear in publications?

Are people searching for it?

How frequently are visitors coming to their site?

Legality

Rules and regulations remain murky with crypto but certain areas have expressly written rules that they (and you) shouldn’t ignore.

Does the project abide by the laws of its jurisdiction?

Does it intend to expand into regions that would consider its services unlawful?

We hope you find this to be a helpful starting point. There are many exciting opportunities in crypto, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take every precaution. Good luck!