So, I will admit I was caught up in the idea of buying into icos and excited that even as a scam ico, as long as they listed you could make at least a little money, however a lesson learned to me and probably others now is the icos that will just disappear into oblivion with your money and that's the end.
Red Flag 1: Don't just buy into whatever your friend is buying into
Ok I admit I was an idiot for just following him on this one ico, I wanted to get into an ico and all the red flags were there so I chucked $20 in, the bonus was 40%
Red flag 2: Bonus goes up and not down, ico not listed and no updates
Although I admit this was really stupid of me to put more into it but a higher bonus was offered 200% or something, this was a clear red flag and I should of counted my loss at $20 but I put in another $10.
Red flag 3: OMG 400% bonus coin!
Yeah, this is where things get silly, if the bonus ever goes up to this amount, your money is already gone most likely, or even if it lists, make sure you sell straight away so you don't get scammed.
The lesson is there, I know it well but even I was making the rookie mistake of fomoing, This is a warning and a lesson to all, when you see an ico off .4% or something daily based on money you loan after they list, this is a big red flag and you should already know this from bitconnect. I know we all get hyped, we all want to shout moon, but in reality, icos, you need to be a little cautious.
Ways to identify a good ico.
Crazy guy not promoting it, nah in all seriousness there a few simple ways to learn from my mistakes.
Is there an actual use case?
This is pretty simple the message is dyor (do your own research) Make sure the use case is viable, and not some graphs placed on a website and even icos with a whitepaper can lure you into a false sense of security.
Is there a dev team or ceo you can clearly see on the website?
Bitcoin was a freak, it has a whitepaper and no one knew anything about it but its rise was phenomenal, this could of easily been the first bitconnect, but the developers obviously wanted to have some sort of success, however it's now the wild west, 1300+ cryptos, 550 million dollar market, lots of bots and whales controlling the market, pump and dump groups, it's easy to get lost.
Don't be a sheep
This is pretty obvious, don't follow advice from some 13 year old on youtube because he says it will moon no matter how many o's you add, that won't be the amount you make from the crypto.
Only invest what you're willing to lose.
This one is also obvious, $200 isn't much in the grand scheme of things, and if you profit off that take your initial profit and chuck it into the desired crypto, don't sell your house, car or dog and think in 3 days i'll be driving a lambo to the moon on my bitconnect gold plated rims, this is silly.
Even if i'm writing this for myself, it's just a reminder not to fomo into icos and remember not to gamble what you can't afford to lose.