How to Screen a Crypto Project Before You Buy In

Crypto markets move on hype faster than most people can check the facts, which makes a repeatable way to evaluate projects valuable. In a recent episode of Ledger Cast, host Brian Krogsgard sat down with Tor Bair, a long-time crypto investor and Head of Growth and Marketing at Enigma, to talk through how to look past the marketing and assess a project's fundamentals.

Bair's own route into the space began on the trading side. He was an options trader when he first came across bitcoin, and his interest deepened during his time as a graduate student at MIT, where he met the team that later co-founded Enigma. The conversation does touch on Enigma, but much of the episode stays on general screening questions that apply to any project rather than on a single company.

Two areas come up most often: the team and the token. The people building a project, their track record, and whether they have a clear reason to stay committed over the long run matter as much as the technology they describe. On the token side, the key question is utility, meaning whether the token has a real function within the network or mostly exists as a vehicle for speculation. The episode covers additional considerations as well, and the show notes point listeners to an earlier interview Bair did with Joey Krug on how to value crypto assets.

Krogsgard and Bair are clear that the episode is educational and should not be taken as investment advice. Anyone considering a purchase should do their own research first. Ledger Cast is available on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, YouTube, and via RSS, and the show notes link to Enigma, Bair's Decentralize This! podcast, and Ledger Status Learn, an educational hub with courses and a community.