Cryptocurrencies : How to be Safe while Investing in Altcoins

I've been an active reader of posts about cryptocurrencies on steemit but rarely have I seen people post about how to safely invest in the alternative blockchains.

I know many people will see this as FUD'ding ( FUD == Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt ). But this post is just about protecting your money and being vigilant in investing.

When I first came to know about Bitcoin, my first few questions to myself were :

1. Does it possibly work?
2. Is it a scam or as people like to call it, a "bubble".
3. If not a scam, how much money can I earn from it.

I found answers to these questions gradually by enlightening myself with -

1. Reading and understanding Satoshi's whitepaper. Also, I joined several forums and Facebook groups on Bitcoin and talked to a lot of wise people about Bitcoin, what they think about it and where they see it going.

2. I tried to know more about the project ( Bitcoin ). I knew about crypto and blockchain by now but I wanted to know more about Bitcoin and how it is useful. Once I started developing an idea on how it could be used in the future, I became more and more knowledgable about Bitcoin.

Now, If I am to experiment with an altcoin, I try to go through the exact same process again.

I first read the white paper and enlighten myself about the project and also I like to talk to a lot of knowledgable people in the field of crypto about how they feel about that currency and where they see it going.

That's where networking helps.