The best traditional media covering cryptocurrency are Forbes and the Wall Street Journal. Forbes magazine has the best investigative reporters who have a thorough understanding of the issues. A search “cryptocurrency at WSJ.com will provide the latest on a variety of issues including regulation.
These provide a well-rounded viewpoint that is typically not found at online news sites that only track blockchain and cryptocurrency, and which are, therefore, primarily aimed at traders.
To research specific companies, start with a list start with a list of what you want to know:
*What is the company’s utility, and in what ways is it better than other options?
*Who is on the team and do they have a track record of success?
*What is the marketcap (price x coins) which shows the total amount people have invested in the company and trading volume (an assessment of current market interest)?
*Are there any upcoming events that may affect the price?
*Have large investors put money into the project showing that teams with more resources than you have already done some due diligence?
*What network is the coin or token built on?
There are a variety of tools used most often by traders as well as people who follow the industry, to use in conjunction with the website which is always the starting point.
Coingecko and CoinMarketCap are essential research tools. The “top 20” lists give a quick picture of the market, with volume and price activity. Anyone can also look up any coin and find not only charts but also scroll down to see the blockchain networks and exchanges carrying the coin.
Coingecko is also great for researching new opportunities.
This platform has a great user interface that lets you research specific coins, and also has an investor-oriented point system for all the factors they may be interested in. Most of these coins have created a “purpose” video, to see the value proposition and an “all on one page” view that includes the point system, and a summary of the business model, with charts that are easy to digest quickly.
Many traders won’t live without this tool that also charts equities and commodities in addition to crypto. Investors can switch views to candlestick charts, add Fibonacci lines, VWAP and RSI, and shift from minutes to months.
CoinMarketCal is the leading economic calendar for reliable cryptocurrency news. It covers all upcoming news events for people following the industry, and traders who want to identify early opportunities and upcoming company events that may affect pricing.
Crypto.com and Etherscan Gastracker
Several sites provide useful tracking for the cost of transactions, such as Ethereum gas fees. Day traders who trade small amounts can actually lose money if the fees are too high. Etherscan Gastracker can show the percentage of people trading at various times of day, although this tool is much less useful since Ethereum switched to ETH2 technology. Crypto.com is a trading platform that also runs news sources.
DeFiPulse is a site where you can find the latest analytics and rankings of Defi protocols. The DEFIPulse Index provides rankings and tracks the total value locked into the smart contracts of popular Defi applications and protocols. See module on Defi risks before investing; you must understand impermanent loss before heading in this direction.
For those mining Helium, these are the two most common tools for evaluating locations for Helium hotspots (see modules on mining for more information). Since helium crashed in 2022, these tools are less interesting to miners; however, Helium has now launched a 5g network and partnered with Tmobile, so there may be some life left in this organization. The Discord and Reddit groups are also active for following Helium, whose creators also founded the entire sector of Token Incentivized Physical Networks, many projects is an important part of the WEb3 future.
ICODrops lists upcoming Pre-exchange, private sales of coins, or initial coin offerings. Promptly lists ICOs projects on the website as their announcement is made. It shows upcoming, active, and ended ICOs, and is often the first step in researching a private offering, not yet on an exchange, and possibly having a higher upside, but also more prove to rug pulls. Take a look:
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksXWyl6q4N8&list=PLnPtb1kbmLtreOgQbGnEl34H9nA8tyMSv&index=2
Messari.io allows investors to see live feed charts of any coin or token project and also provides additional research such as charts, top ten coins. One useful element is to check out what top portfolios like Coinbase or AAVE (see video above) are holding. These funds have (theoretically) done the extra due diligence on the software used in the smart contracts and the team – so that also lowers the risk of smart contract errors and again, gives some idea of where the industry is heading. One strategy used by an experienced investment trader is to look for the low market caps held by large portfolios; they must be investing for a reason, the theory goes, and so you can get in before the coin is over-hyped.
Here’s how to start:
- Go to Messari.io
- Scroll down to the library. Those are the top hedge funds
- See which ones are performing better than others
- Click in and out of the funds to familiarize yourself with some of their holdings
- Sort by Market Cap. The Market Cap is simply the total amount invested in that coin. One pro trader looks for the LOWEST amounts – because that means that a hedge fund has invested earlier. They must have a reason!
- Do your own research on the company itself, but click on the website and white paper. Assess the team by reading their bios and checking on LinkedIn and Crunchbase.
Again, you want to look for value. Once a coin is identified, go to the website and check on the model? Does it make sense?
Staking rewards is a simple tool that lets you shop the whole market for staking. Click on staking providers to find the top providers ranked by yield. Not that the Defi sector is responsible for all of the major losses in 2022, so buyer beware.
Twitter is an important source for early news. It’s a tricky source because it is easy to be overwhelmed or misinformed. A best practice is to create a separate account and follow only individuals and organizations whose information you trust. You can still “get ahead” of the news, without irrelevant or unsourced information in your stream. When you join the CAFE, ask our instructors who they follow, and check out a full article on Twitter strategies here.
Twitter is an easy way to follow any blockchain, news source, or other opportunity, since all will post “the latest”. However, keep your list of entities followed tight, to avoid overwhelm.
Search for a coin to find aggregated news, the Token summary that reports bullish and bearish indicators, and other charting information.
Chainalysis
This is an important new source that covers security issues, and other indicators of fraud. A mustfollow site both for researching the industry and for investors. This group uses real data in unique ways that no one else is covering.
This is the leading source of aggregated headline news and has a great one-minute daily email newsletter. You can also type a coin into the search box on the website to find all the news for that company. Coinbase.com also delivers aggregated news feeds by company.
For news on NFTs only, see the recommended e-newsletters. For just one, we recommend either NFTlately or NFTevening.
Next, to understand how to use crypto-wallets, go to the next module.