Seek for more crypto knowledge before investing in new projects, it's not always that easy to choose, as a newbie it's better to stick with old top altcoins on coinmarketcap, why? Because many newbie are in rush to make fast returns, if you are this type pls go for better top coins, 90% of new coins aren't serious at all, they are here to steal money from investors and give fake promises in return
Newbies are safer with top altcoins until they start learning how to choose wisely, do better diggings on new project to avoid scams
Cov-19 have been used to scam many newbies and even Corona virus coins are built too which have no real use cases
Play safe and be willing to learn
I totally agree with you that it is better for newbies to make do with mainstream currencies, as they don’t have sufficient experience in investigating projects, but of course while investing in some fundamental currencies, don’t stop there and learn this market, as risky altcoins can yield you much higher profit than just holding of Bitcoin and Ehtereum.