As an investor, it is absolutely vital that we keep in mind the fundamentals of cryptocurrency AND investing. In a nutshell, cryptocurrencies should aim to tackle real world problems with great technology. If you invest in a crypto that claims to do anything other than that, STOP IMMEDIATELY.

So, a crypto should solve a problem using technology. Great. But how do we determine that this is in fact their true intentions? Also how do we know they're competent enough to do so? In this article I plan to layout some prominent factors that you should at least consider before making an investment into a crypto.

Elements for Analysis:

• White paper.
• Team.
• Technology.
• Communication with investors.
• Community outlook.

White Paper:

If a crypto does not have a white paper, DO NOT INVEST. The white paper is the essential selling point of any crypto. This is where they can go into great detail about their plans and operations. Here's a checklist for a sound white paper. (For every point, we'll use bitcoin as an example.)

• Proposes a real problem.
  If there's no problem to be solved, there's no need for the crypto.
  Bitcoin Example: Governments and banks are too centralized.

• Explains a solution for the problem.
  Remember, crypto's should use technology to solve an issue. So technicals should be involved in this explanation.
  Bitcoin Example: A (mostly)private decentralized public ledger for transactions.

• Describes challenges the crypto will face.
  This is perhaps the most telling element of a great white paper. A crypto that claims there are no challenges to it, is delusional and untrustworthy.
  Bitcoin Example: Adoption from the community.

Team:

So you've read the white paper and it sounds like a great idea. That's cool, but the idea is the easy part, the execution is what's most difficult. Here's another lovely checklist.

• Team Size.
  How many people are currently working on the project? Are they hiring/looking for developers? A red flag, would be if the website provides very little information about the team. If they are open sourced and have a Github repo, that can show a lot too. Here's a great video on this by Ivan on Tech. Another red flag would be if most of the team is focused on marketing and sales, rather than development.

• Team member's history of competence.
  Most cryptocurrency's will provide links to LinkedIn accounts for the team members. Obviously the higher up the member is, the more important it is that they are credible. Specifically, look at they're previous jobs and how many connections they have and what those connections say about them.

Technology:

Now I know most people who aren't software developers themselves will find this part absolutely redundant. But although you don't know what the actual code means, you can know good development practices. Again, the Github repo is crucial for this step (if it's an open sourced crypto). (Ivan's video again).

• Frequent commits.
  If the technology was already completely functional, there should be no need for investors. So the Github repo should definitely be updated frequently.

• Issues opened and closed often.
  Don't worry too much if a Git has a lot of open issues. If anything, this can be more good than bad. It means a lot of developers are looking into the code and spotting out improvements and fixes. That being said, the issues should be fixed.

• Multiple developers working on the project.
  Also falls into the team aspect, but yeah there's another red flag if only one or two dev's are working on the project.

Communication With Investors:

You are giving your hard earned money to people making a lot of promises. You should absolutely expect to hear from the team as often as possible. Connect to their reddit, twitter, telegram, youtube, virtually every outlet they use. It is especially important during times when people are having issues. How fast are they responding to the issues? Do they make it clear that they are working to resolve current issues? Finally, if the team makes any promise about future prices, you should absolutely not invest.

Community Outlook:

This is a highly speculative market. Which means, perhaps the most merit behind a crypto's price is nothing but what other people are saying about it. Again look on the popular forums (reddit, discord, telegram, etc) and get a feeling for the general consensus of the coin.

BUT watch out for overly exuberant communities. This is usually good for the short term price, but really bad for long term, sustainable growth. If you are late to the crypto, and it has already been "hyped" ( it's seen exponential gains in a short period of time), you are most likely gonna have a bad time. If you really like the coin, just wait for the price to correct to something reasonable, then invest.

Anyway,

That's the strategy I've been using and plan to continue to use. If you disagree with something, or would like to add, definitely leave a comment. Have fun investing and remember, if you're feeling doubtful, or anxious about a certain coin, just pull up the chart and draw some triangles on it : )