11. No White Paper
Without a white paper, investors can’t grasp the vision for a coin. The crypto space was birthed with the idea that it will revolutionize the world. When a team comes together to solve a problem that can overhaul an industry, it’s unearthing to think that they may not even know what their own desires for the future might entail. A missing white paper tells investors that there is a lack of direction.
12. Plagiarized White Paper
Who would have thought we would need to have a conversation about plagiarizing a white paper. I certainly never thought this would be a topic of conversation. Plagiarizing is discouraged in nearly every industry. It shows a lack of understanding, yet a will to use. When it comes to technology, this often means the person neither understands how the technology works, nor why they are using the solutions they have decided on.
13. No Technical Details
While a white paper should illustrate the vision of the leadership team, it should also detail a certain level of technical assertions that demonstrate a capacity to execute on the vision. While the technical details will shift over time, it’s not reasonable to exclude all technical details because of this possibility. Without a technical outline, it suggests that at the time of ICO there were no technical members on the team. The plan was that they would write some garbage in a white paper and then once they had some money, hire a team of engineers to develop it.
14. No Timeline
A team without a timeline lacks direction. Thinking about the product iterations and providing them for investors gives expectations. This may also be the reason why some teams exclude a timeline. Expectation means the team will be held accountable to a set of deliverables that will influence their success.
15. Over-Hype
Over-hyped projects are common place in the crypto space. Many of these are just that though, projects. They aren’t businesses. By targeting those that don’t understand the technology or are susceptible to blindly promoting coins, these coins skyrocket without much to show for it. When a coin starting to hockey stick in value, carefully evaluate why that is happening. If it’s because of a sudden flood of hype, expect instability in that coins future.
16. Misleading Features
One of the worst hyping techniques that are frequent in this market is when teams market features that don’t currently exist. It should be noted that this is not the same as providing a roadmap with a vision. This is promoting a coin through features that may never exist.
17. Grand Vision
When a team provides a grand vision, one that will change every market, they better have substantial proof. They should have technical details outlining how exactly they will accomplish something so broad. Without these specific technical details, it’s likely the team is marketing a dream that they have no idea if it’s even possible.
18. Publicity Stunts
There are some teams that seem to be focusing more on announcing partnerships, new features, marketing campaigns, events, and more, when there is no substance behind these stunts. An announcement without a purpose is like a fog horn to a biker. It sounds impressive, but most people should be ignoring these broadcasts.