Evaluating a crypto project
Ninety percent of tokens go to zero. A short checklist will filter out most of them before you ever buy.
> The team
Are the founders public and reputable, or anonymous? Anonymous isn't automatically bad — Bitcoin is anonymous — but it changes the risk profile. Search their names: prior projects, exit history, and their public track record matter more than the whitepaper.
> The product
Does it exist? Does it have users who aren't there for token rewards? Check on-chain activity: real fees, real revenue, real TVL that doesn't collapse when incentives end. 'Roadmap' is not a product.
> The tokenomics
See lesson 15. Read the token distribution: what percent is held by insiders, over what vesting schedule? A project where 60% of supply unlocks to insiders over the next 2 years is priced against a wall of future selling.
> The community
Is the discussion technical or purely price? Are critics tolerated or banned? Genuine communities argue about design choices; pump communities enforce a party line. That signal is free and reliable.