Basic common sense advice for new people buying coins.

[rizzlarolla]

Add any advice you want.

Don't buy alts.

[glerant]

Before buying any coins I would advise that people compile, mine, and play around with the GitHub source. Their is a mine of information in the source including how professional the devs are.

[d5000]

Good topic, should be sticky. I would add the following advice:

If the coin is advertising "innovative features", don't believe it blindly. Check out what they really are and if development really is taking place.. Many coin "developers" promise adding some good-sounding features in the future, but will never add them. At least, wait until these features are on a testnet or they can prove the code has been written.

And features of a cryptocurrency should solve a real problem. Ask yourself if you really would use the feature the creators are proposing, or if it's only good-sounding marketing blabla.

[Hueristic]

5) Estimate the value of a coin by it's market capitalization (the combined value of all its coins) rather than the price of one coin.

Most people go to sites like Coinmarketcap.com and look at the market capitalization of a coin to decide if it is cheap or expensive. The price of one coin is meaningless.

BE Aware that heavily pre-mines will have hugely manipulated market caps.


Be wary of coins with Moderated Announcement and/or support threads.

When vetting always check supporters past ventures and trust rating. Trust rating can be hard to gauge so you can find ratings from members you do trust and gauge from their circle.

Never forget investing is nothing but gambling. Consider your money already gone when it's out of your control. Of course there is nothing wrong with altruistic support of what you believe in.