Future is an infinite number of different scenarios / realities and each of us can make one or some of those realities more probable. Blockchain technology is yet very immature, but undoubtedly it is going to change the world by making it more connected. In terms of investments in crowd sales , I would say that it should be no different from any other investment decision you make, you have to  (1) understand the essence of the project, wether the idea is viable or not, does it create any value (2) get to know the core team, speak to them, research on their background, try to understand their incentives. Some people are so cheap, they would trade their reputation for a couple of Ks, some people would never trade it for even billions of dollars. I would ask the founders, what is their incentives, why they work on this not anything else. In the end, almost everything in the world is about people's relations, so make sure you understand people, you are donating / investing in.