Where to start when you have 10,000+ cryptos to choose from.
Properly researching crypto projects is essential if you want to find the next investment gem. But where should you begin your research process? After all, there are over 10,000 cryptocurrencies and tokens out there.
Generally speaking, There are two approaches how to research promising crypto projects: top-down and bottom-up.
The top-down method is to first research and find a promising industry that you are interested in first, then explore the sub-sectors within the industry. After that analyse individual projects within a specific sector.
The bottom-up method starts with inspecting individual projects first, researching the fundamentals, then looking at the general trend of the sector, the industry, and the macroeconomic trend.
The following 6 ways cover both methods, giving you the option to pick which approach suits you best.
Let’s take a closer look!
1. Go to coingecko.com to research industries
If you want to follow the top-down method, go to https://www.coingecko.com/en/categories and check out the 70+ different industries and use cases.
This gives you a great overview of the blockchain solutions that exist in different market segments. It is highly recommended that you have relevant knowledge of the respective market or use cases.
The remaining tips all follow the bottom-up approach.
2. Simply ask others for their recommendations
Asking others isn’t original, but it’s a good place to start for ideas. Social networks like Twitter are a great starting point for quickly collecting recommendations for crypto projects.
However, you should note a few things.
Make sure the people you get ideas for your research from aren’t shillers. A shiller is a person who advertises a coin or token to steal the attention of community members and encourage them to shift to the cryptocurrency he or she is promoting.
To not fall into their trap, all you have to do is look at their timeline and see who they are talking to and what they are talking about. If their timeline is full of how awesome coin X is and why token Y is going to do a 100x, you better not follow their recommendation.
3. Check websites that promote airdrops
These are a great source to get ideas for new crypto projects.
Examples are:
Here you find info on every crypto project offering airdrops. Crypto airdrops are a marketing activity that involves sending free coins or tokens to wallet addresses to promote awareness of a new currency or token. The advantage is that these are already somewhat established and more advanced projects, meaning that some of the worst coins and tokens have already been weeded out.
4. Check websites listing upcoming crypto ICOs
Examples are:
These sites offer information such as fundraising goals, coin or token price, links to whitepapers, etc. A great choice if you want to find brand new projects before most others do.
5. Research the listings on crypto launchpads
Crypto launchpads are platforms on which developers acquire capital for their crypto projects. Before listing, any project undergoes a detailed due diligence process. This means that only projects with a relatively high chance of success make it onto the platform. The launchpad thus takes over a significant part of your work as a researcher.
A few pages you can check out:
Check out my guide on researching crypto launchpads here.
6. Coingecko discover function
Another starting point is offered by https://www.coingecko.com/en/discover. It lists recently added coins as well as trending searches for crypto projects. Definitely worth taking a look there once in a while.
Which one is the best option for you?
With these tips, it should be easy for you to select a few suitable candidates for your research from the countless crypto projects out there. But does it make more sense to investigate brand new projects, or should you focus on existing coins and tokens?
2 basic rules apply:
More risky + higher chance for big returns: brand new or new but already established projects in new industries.
Less risky + lower chance for big returns: middle to large-cap coins and tokens in established industries.
The choice is yours.
For more articles I wrote on how to research crypto projects, please check out my list: https://ren-heinrich.medium.com/list/how-to-research-crypto-projects-5fd393fd0be8
