How to conduct research

Fundamentals

• Read the whitepaper — does the project solve a real problem, or is it vague/buzzword-heavy? • Check the team: real names, LinkedIn profiles, past track record (anonymous teams = higher risk) • Look at tokenomics: total supply, circulating supply, inflation rate, and how tokens are distributed (heavy insider/team allocation is a red flag)

On-chain & market data

• Market cap vs. fully diluted valuation (FDV) — a huge gap means lots of future dilution • Trading volume and liquidity (low liquidity = hard to exit, easy to manipulate) • Use tools like CoinGecko, CoinMarketCap, or DeFiLlama for TVL (total value locked) if it’s a DeFi project • Check holder distribution on-chain explorers (Etherscan, Solscan, etc.) — is supply concentrated in a few wallets?

Development activity

• GitHub commit history — is the code actively maintained, or dead? • Check if the code has been audited (and by whom — some audit firms are more reputable than others)

Community & sentiment

• Look at Discord/Telegram/X activity — is it organic engagement or bots and hype? • Be wary of excessive shilling, paid influencer promotion, or “guaranteed returns” language

Red flags to watch for

• Anonymous teams with no accountability • Unrealistic promises (“100x guaranteed”) • Locked liquidity status unknown or short lock periods • Contract not renounced / has mint functions that could dilute holders • Copy-pasted whitepapers or code

Risk management

• Never invest more than you can afford to lose • Diversify rather than going all-in on one coin • Be extra cautious with new/low-cap tokens — they’re the most common target for scams and rug pulls