If someone asks to send ETH to an address and promises an "airdrop" in return, it is clearly a scam. Airdrops are free, you don't pay for them. Plus it is really easy to pull out. Crypto is full of scam attempts, every day. You need to be very careful and never send funds, or give your private keys, for an "airdrop". Even if you invest in token sales, you need to do your due diligence to avoid scams.

I don't do social bounties because I don't like to spam my friends / contacts with random projects that may not be of their interest. I don't want to have my twitter or facebook personal accounts flooded by tweets, retweets or shares, honestly. But many people do. You could do all social bounties offered by the ICO, or select which one is better depending on what they are paying and the % of stakes each one has.

I only do bounties for projects I will invest in, and I really care about. For me is a way to get some extra tokens for free, that will have value long term (or at least I expect to, because I am putting my own money into that project).

You can do a lot of things to detect scams. Most of the time it is quite easy to do, if you actually take your time asessing the project.

You need to check the team, search their social media profiles, even contact them directly, do a reverse image search to confirm they are legit. You need to understand the project and need the whitepaper. Need to compare the technology with similar projects to see if they didn't steal anything or if it is just a recycled whitepaper. You need to see if they do have a minimum viable product and be able to see it, try it. You can review the code they already have on github or similar repositories.

Now, if you fall into a scam, a scam is people stealing money from you. You could theoretically make the report to your local authorities. But it is an unregulated market, so depending on the country, if they are located abroad or if they cannot be identified, it would be tricky. Will depend on your authorities how far they go in the pursuit.

If they sold the tokens already to you, and you have them, but they are still locked, nothing you can do. They will reimburse those tokens. If they are unlocked you could theoretically trade them or do even an OTC transaction. You could already have sold them before they contacted you. Or transferred to any other wallet, and they cannot know if it is your wallet or someone else.

If you are a total newbie, it is kind of difficult. But you need to check the team, search their social media profiles, even contact them directly, do a reverse image search to confirm they are legit. You need to understand the project and need the whitepaper. Need to compare the technology with similar projects to see if they didn't steal anything or if it is just a recycled whitepaper. You need to see if they do have a minimum viable product and be able to see it, try it. You can review the code they already have on github or similar repositories.

Those things, among others, will help you to detect scams.

Honestly, I would say that the reason it went bad for you is because you didn't do your due diligence. There are a lot of ICOs every month and I have to tell you: most are shit. But there are also great ICOs that could perform well both short and long term.

Unfortunately, in crypto most people follow the herd. Or just invest in any ICO that comes across, thinking it may be a good investment just because it is an ICO. This is how people lose money.

You need to be sure where you are putting your money into.

You need to learn that your funds reside in an address, in the blockchain. The only way to access those funds is by signing transactions using your private key. So if you are careful and manage your private key offline (never store it online, never enter it into websites for "aidrops" or other phishing attacks), you will be fine.

If you store funds in the exchange, you don't have the private key. The exchange has it, so the exchange has your funds. Not you. Your funds are in an address controlled by them, not by you. It is their address, not your address (just tied to your name). 

Exchanges are unregulated, they are not banks, they can be hacked, and they are hacked despite all the security measures they take. They could even disappear overnight.

Keeping your funds in an exchange, in a wallet you do not control because you don't have your keys, is very risky, is also irresponsible.

I am not familiar with this windows wallet you are referring to, but wallets are just a mean to access your assets that are actually stored in the blockchain, not in any piece of software or anything. So use another wallet (if you have, of course, your private key to access your funds). Or ask for support in their support forums (or other means they may have).

Well, not with that attitude. I mean, you hold only the things you really believe in and you think will eventually appreciate in value. You don't hold onto anything in a blind hope it may rise in a few years. Plus, when you invest, especially in crypto, you need to ride with the tremendous volatility this market has.

So if you want to hold any asset, including your house, the least you should do is get to know whatever you need to make this decision. As simple as that, yet as complex as it is.

Fiat and gold are fixed? Gold is very volatile. Fiat values change all the time compared to other fiat.

But I don't try to convince anyone, that is not my role. I do like the underlying technology and once you understand that, then your eyes are opened.

For many years I didn't participate in the cryptocurrency market because I thought the same. But then companies - corporations have started to think how they could benefit from blockchain technology. That happened in my sector. So I started to investigate about blockchain, understood what a blockchain is. Read Bitcoin whitepaper. And started to see the potential.

Then I started to invest in cryptocurrencies.

Sure. I recommend only to put signature and do bounties for projects you really believe in and you are willing to invest yourself. Not just "any" bounty because most of them, honestly, are not good projects.

This means, you have to make your due diligence. Doing bounties takes time, it is a lot of work, so you need to select in which project you will do the work, because you will be paid on their tokens. So you must make sure that those tokes are good ones, which can grow over time and represent a project you really believe in.

This is what I do. Otherwise it is worthless.

It still can happen right?    You never know.

But seriously, most people just follow the herd, they invest or not based on hype, on market sentiment. Crypto markets have brought in a bunch of newbies, unexperienced investors who do not understand anything about the projects, but want to make a quick buck. Not serious investors which are willing to let the projects / investments mature and that do select carefully where to put the money.

This is my opinion.

Unfortunately all markets, even regulated financial ones, are subject to market manipulation. In regulated, this is legally forbidden and if the authority finds out, investigations are open and law is enforced, so it is difficult. Yet, you sometimes find news about that, such as the big manipulation in LIBOR that happened some years ago.

Crypto markets are mostly unregulated, in many countries. This makes much easier for the big capital to manipulate, unfortunately.

This is why you need to be smart.

Bounties require you to do work. In this regard, they are not a source of passive income (by definition passive income is what you receive for an investment or an asset, without having to work for that money).

If you are not selective and you do participate in any bounty, then yes, waste of time.

If you do bounties for good projects that you are investing yourself, which is what I do, it is a great way to get additional tokens for free and lower your investment costs.

But better projects out there are not doing bounties anymore, they do telegram airdrops or other kind of campaigns. Those are worth cents, so for me a waste of time. You need to select carefully. 

It depends. Investing is not a bet, crypto markets are very volatile and it is very difficult to time the market.

If you are willing to hold long term, you can find bargains today. Yes, the market can fall more, but you never know. Look at the fundamentals of the projects, including valuation, and be very selective.

If you are a trader, then it does not matter. You can trade successfully in bear market, you just need to apply your methodology with extreme discipline in order to perform.

Either way, I don't think is wise just to "wait" meaning "not do anything" based on your "feelings". 

You are talking about patience, yet you are talking about hours or 3 days. Patience is much more than that. If you are a trader, patience is not a virtue, because you need to have a system, a method, and apply it always when you get the signals. Patience is no virtue because you need to cut losses as soon as possible, and let the profits run as much as possible. You do not trade with your feelings, but with your method.

Patience is for those that are wiling to hold long term.

Crypto markets are very volatile. Yes, the market is currently red, and it can stay like that a long time, or not. You never know. This is why it is so important to be selective, manage your risk, invest only in projects that can be game changers, have a solid team and reasonable token metrics, buckle up and enjoy the ride. It is just starting and will be huge, in my opinion.

Yo también había escuchado mucho del Bitcoin - incluso leído sobre él, pero fui uno de los escépticos que no entendí ni vi futuro en una "moneda virtual" que en aquél momento creí que había sido creada de la nada y sin ningún respaldo. No entendí la tecnología detrás de ello y me arrepiento. Luego leí que había muchas otras "criptomonedas", algunas que intentaban competirle.

Pero es de sabios cambiar de opinión. Algunos años después empecé a darme cuenta de lo poderosa que era la tecnología del Blockchain para muchísimas aplicaciones, de la cual Bitcoin había sido pionera. Empecé a interesarme mucho más y a leer sobre todo ello y me emocioné.

Me encontré luego en una reunión a una persona que se dedicaba a hacer trading con criptomonedas. Yo no soy trader, posiblemente nunca lo podría hacer, pero él me supo explicar también, de manera apasionada, ese mercado. Después de esa reunión me animé a comprar mis primeros Bitcoin y Ether, justo en el momento en el que empezó el gran "bull market" del año pasado.

Sigo enganchado. No hago trading pero sí leo cada día sobre nuevos proyectos, investigo, invierto en algunas ICOs de manera muy selectiva (no sigo a los "influencers", invierto en lo que yo personalmente creo según mi propio análisis) y me ha ido bastante bien. Soy principalmente inversor de largo plazo.

Further updates by @colorlessK would be appreciated.

Te he dado mérito, porque la información que compartes es buena y de calidad. Mi manera de agradecerlo.