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🟢 #5 How to Choose Crypto Projects

With thousands of tokens and protocols out there, deciding what to pay attention to can feel overwhelming. Not every project is worth your time or money. This tutorial will guide you through the main factors you should consider before getting involved with any crypto project.

Start with the Market Overview​

Before diving into individual tokens, it helps to look at the bigger picture. The Market Overview page in SUMEX pulls together key indicators that help you gauge the mood of the entire market:

  • Market cap and coin ratings give you a quick sense of how large and established a project is compared to others.
  • The Fear & Greed Index shows overall investor sentiment — is the market cautious or euphoric?
  • The Altcoin Season Index helps identify whether Bitcoin is dominating or if smaller-cap coins are driving growth.
  • Heatmaps and liquidation data show where leverage is being wiped out — useful for spotting volatility and risk levels.

These tools don’t tell you what to buy, but they help you understand the environment before you act.

Digging Deeper with Asset Pages​

Once you’ve spotted an interesting token, the Asset Page in SUMEX provides a closer look:

  • Historical price charts
  • On-chain data and supply metrics
  • Key fundamentals such as circulating supply, total supply, and inflation/deflation model
  • Links to the project’s website, docs, and socials

Think of the Asset Page as your project “cheat sheet.” It saves you from endlessly Googling for reliable info.

Roadmap and Plans​

Every project has ambitions — but are they realistic, and are they being delivered on time? A good roadmap should outline clear milestones: testnets, mainnet launches, integrations, or partnerships.

Pay attention to whether the team actually meets their deadlines. A roadmap that keeps slipping without explanation can be a red flag. On the other hand, consistent delivery shows reliability.

Technology and Real-World Usability​

Next aspect to consider is to think about what the project actually does. Does it solve a real problem? Does its technology bring efficiency, lower costs, or new possibilities?

Some projects are highly innovative but lack adoption. Others may not be revolutionary but provide tools people already use every day (like stablecoins or bridges). Both can have value — but it’s important to know which one you’re dealing with.

Also, keep an eye on whether the project is interoperable with other chains, whether it’s audited for security, and whether its design makes sense for long-term use.

Community Strength​

Finally, a project is only as strong as its community. Look at places like X (Twitter), Telegram, and Discord:

  • How many active members are there?
  • Do discussions feel organic, or is the channel full of bots and spam?
  • How often does the team post updates?
  • Are key metrics like total followers and engagement growing over time?

Strong communities not only spread awareness, they also provide liquidity and support when the market gets shaky. A silent or toxic community is a warning sign.

Memecoins​

Not all tokens are built with groundbreaking technology or complex roadmaps. Memecoins — like Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, or Pepe — often start with no utility at all. On paper, they’re “just another token” using existing tech.

So why do they matter? Because they tap into something universal: humor and community. A good meme is instantly understandable, easy to share, and gives people a sense of belonging. That alone can give a token real-world utility as a cultural asset.

Some memecoins evolve into more than a joke. Dogecoin has a passionate, long-lasting community and is accepted by some merchants as payment. Shiba Inu has built a DAO-like structure with governance, a DEX, and even NFT projects around its ecosystem.

The lesson? Memecoins are risky and volatile, but they prove that strong communities can sometimes turn “jokes” into movements with staying power.

Concluding Thoughts​

Choosing projects is about combining data with common sense. Look at the market mood, dig into asset details, read the roadmap, check community health, and ask whether the technology matters in the real world.

No single signal gives the full picture. But by layering these perspectives, you’ll start to separate serious projects from hype. And remember — SUMEX is here to give you the tools and structured information to make this process easier and safer.

DYOR Checklist

Before you put money into a project, make sure you’ve looked at:

  • 📊 Market context: market cap, sentiment indexes, liquidations
  • 📄 Asset details: tokenomics, supply, fundamentals
  • 🛣️ Roadmap: goals, milestones, delivery track record
  • 👥 Community: size, activity, engagement, sentiment
  • 🐕 Memecoins: is the hype backed by real community power?
  • ⚙️ Technology & usability: does it solve a problem, and is it secure?

If you can tick off each of these, you’re already ahead of most retail investors.

In the next tutorial, we’ll move closer to practice and show you how to actually trade assets inside SUMEX.