IOTA is sure the future in the case that it will boom in value once internet of things comes into play but until that happens maybe you could make more money somewhere else in the cryptocurrency market , you can see that even though it is in the top cryptocurrencies, its price is not increasing exponentially this shows that its relevant but the market is just not right.

if you are talking about the future, the future seems to be closer to cryptocurrencies than to the fiat, there are literally gadgets being introduced in the market which are built around blockchain and cryptocurrencies and if cryptocurrency is the future then alt coins is a default case

There are a lot of collective ways to find out if the initial coin offering you choose to invest in is the right one you could look at the team, their past history and works another way is to look at the token distribution and the roadmap for expansion and tech developments.

The best coins you can invest in if you choose not to invest in Ethereum are those which do not have a similar concept than Ehtereum, or better in potential technology, a personal choice would be IOTA because of its future tech and the way the world is accepting internet of technologies.

Bitcoin is being accepted worldwide, many countries in the European Union are having its issues with bitcoin but despite that, it is being used in banks and different financial institutions around the world so yes it is at the verge of being accepted on a global scale.

I started off with low financial funds so the best cryptocurrency for me, to begin with, would be that which was one of the top currencies but also one which was valued low, and that was the only ripple so I purchase 100 USD of ripple but over time after I understood the market my investment increased tenfold.

It depends on how much you know about the cryptocurrency market, if you are new to this game then it is better to only invest in buying half a bitcoin since 3000 USD worth of investment to start with is a safe start if you are not aware of the volatility in bitcoin and others