It would be great once there's a system in place that allows you to spend your crypto freely pretty much anywhere in the world, just like you can with your debit or credit card. I know some similar cards are in the works but they still seem to be a way off before this is mainstream. Hopefully this is one direction crypto will go though!

One of the reasons people may wait for the public sale instead of the pre-sale, even if they get slightly less is probably due to not wanting to jump in without doing more research. Not only that, but a lot of people want second opinions and its likely that influences etc share their opinions later down the line rather than as soon as the pre-sale starts. I also think that if the pre-sale does good, it's seen as being a good indicator overall so someone who is unsure may wish to see how the pre-sale does and if it goes good will take part in the public sale.

There's a number of reasons really and every person probably has their own.

It's always best to do as much research as possible, if there's a part of you that is doubtful or unsure if its genuine then it's probably best to skip it and move to the next one. As you said, nothing is guaranteed but a well written and informative whitepaper is always a good start, plus if the development team come across as honest and transparent that's also a good sign as scams will often use loads of buzzwords and make it seem too good to be true, like it could never fail and will only ever go up!

If the ICO is raising money for what is essentially just an idea with no working concept or demo then I would also stay away. While there are examples of ones being genuine, these are the easiest type of ICO scams to pull off as they don't need to be able to develop anything. If they do have a working concept or demo, check the quality of it and how closely it matches to their vision. If it's poor quality, not user friendly can barely functions, you have to question whether or not they can deliver what they want to

I think a lot of people like having less coins in circulation as they feel that it can increase the price as there's less coins around, although in reality it doesn't make too much impact once they are burned until later down the line. Not only that, but if those tokens are unsold something has to be done with them so burning makes the most sense as otherwise the team have more tokens then they originally allocated to themselves so it all comes down to trust.

I don't think crypto is going anywhere and is here to stay for the long run. You only have to look at how crypto has been able to help out in countries such as Venezuela for example and as long as people believe in it, it will always exist in one form or another. Plus there's several countries looking at issuing their own cryptocurrencies too, so even if Bitcoin doesn't end up being the world's global currency, we'll still have crypto in some form.

If it's too good to be true, then it always is.

There is no "easy" money. Everything takes time and hard-work such as researching. With a bit of luck too.

As has already been mentioned, it's vital that you know how Bitcoin and any other cryptocurrencies you are interested in work. If you're looking to invest and make profit it's also important that you try to learn how the markets work and how to read charts. You don't need to be an expert but having an idea of when to buy or sell is always a great thing to have.

Most importantly though I'd say is making sure your security is super tight. Make sure that every decide you use to access any wallets or exchanges is safe to use and always make sure you back up your wallets and private keys, but never share them. Cold storage is your best bet for this or using a hardware wallet like a Ledger.

Above all else though, make sure you enjoy it and have an interest in it

The best time to buy or sell is different for everyone. No one can predict if and when things will go up and down and by how much. If you're looking to buy in, it's important you have a strategy in mind such as are you going to HODL for the long term or have in mind what price point you will sell at in the future if it reaches it. As an example, if you strongly believe Bitcoin will reach $20k again and will sell at that, if you buy now and HODL, it doesn't matter too much if you buy at $9000, $8500 or $8000 as you've already got a long-term strategy in mind. If you're looking to make quicker trades and turnover though then you may want to narrow the price point you buy in at.