Topic: 5 tips for recognizing scams through whitepaper research (Read 180 times)

Thanks for this post, I really appreciate it. There are a few advices I wouldn't even think of and it's really helpful. One thing is very important - to check whether the people who are standing behind a project are not only real - even if they are real you always should search for their past activities, check if they weren't implicated in some ponzi schemes, or illegal activities. And right now i need to take a closer look at some whitepapers.

Technological aspect: innovative or not; using codebase from old projects; or making their own codebase; confirmations on network require miners and electricity, with potential environmental damages on our planet.
I don't see any interesting and convincing reasons to invest in projects that use codebase of older projects; they are likely incapable projects.

Usecases: Their claimed usecases are helpful, and realistic for now, or in near future or not.

History of their team developers: Past projects, scam accusations/ achievements (LOL); should check their developers' images are stolen or fake ones or not.

That's what I thought too at first when I started investing in Altcoin mostly through ICOs in 2017 but I got to understand, in this space the teams (mostly made up of the so called crypto influencer), can't be trusted as they are just been recycled from one project to another for hype purpose. I now rely on the idea (in this case technology) behind the project and how realistic it's before I consider the teams involved in the development and management of project.

Therefore I'll be backing what's in the OP in regards to technology coming as the number one tip although I think, I'll consider reviewing the team members before looking at the roadmap, as this will give me an idea of how achievable the roadmap would be.

Yes, that's a though one. But don't forget you can always contact the team directly, for example through LinkedIn, or contact journalists or websites that have done a piece on them. Any extra info is welcome.

Thanks, I'm the author of the article on Uptrennd as well. This post is slightly different, but nevertheless relevant for people who are new to crypto. I've posted a disclaimer below the article just to be sure.

You should include the reference to the source of your information in the OP. As far a I can make it, the reference would be:
https://www.uptrennd.com/post-detail/sto-whitepaper-research-avoiding-scams~MTQ5OTQ

The above applies even if it is your own article (name is the same), and is really a requirement to avoid the post being reported for plagiarism at some point.

In this article I will give you 5 pointers on how to recognize scam coins & projects through whitepaper research. Although most projects that turned out to be a scam had a great whitepaper, some of them gave away their bad intentions in the whitepaper. So before investing in any cryptocurrency, you should always check the whitepaper!

What is a whitepaper?
So what is a Whitepaper exactly? When a company intends to launch a new cryptocurrency, they usually set out all the details in a Whitepaper. This document contains the technical, financial and commercial information about the project. This document normally explains in plain language what they’re planning to build, to attract investors and other interested parties. In other words, the whitepaper explains the project’s purpose and process, the Why and the How.

Not every project or coin starts with a whitepaper. Litecoin started by giving a video presentation on ‘Creating Litecoin’ at a Coinbase event. Loom Network decided not to write a whitepaper, but immediately started developing and delivering code. Others are just forks of existing projects, like Bitcoin, so they don't have their own whitepaper. Some projects bring out a Pink Paper, Green Paper or Yellow Paper and other projects, such as Cardano, bring out multiple whitepapers to describe every part of the tech they are building. Luckily, 99% of the cryptocurrencies and ICO’s/STO's/IEO's still release a whitepaper at some point to outline their project and tech. So if you thinking about investing in a new coin (and to avoid scams) your first stop is reading the whitepaper.

What parts of a whitepaper do I need to check before investing in a cryptocurrency?
Although scam projects are getting better and better in not raising any suspicion, there are some sections of the whitepaper which you need to take a closer look at to filter out unreliable projects.

1 - Technology
The most important thing is the project’s proposed (technical) solution to a real and relevant problem. It makes no difference if it's something new or a better application of existing tech, when the problem they're trying to solve doesn’t need solving, there’s a big chance the project will fail or is set up to raise a quick buck. This is usually the most difficult to verify, but keep an eye out for common buzzwords that are solely used to confuse u without really explaining what the project is about.

2 - Team, Advisors & Partnerships
The people behind the project should be easy to verify. Check their Linkedin, online profiles, company profiles, any addresses you find, advisors, partnerships etc. Don't be afraid to openly ask them if they're involved in the project. Fitrova, a project that did an exit scam, boasted about great partnerships, but after checking with those partners they denied even knowing the CEO. Declouds, also a scam, wanted to prove his alleged partnership with a bank, by photoshopping himself into a picture of the board members of that bank. And finally I almost participated in an ICO with fake team members, but just in time the community found out that all the pictures where stolen from some Australian School Board website. So always doublecheck the information provided to you about the people behind the project and don't forget to do a reverse image search on their pictures.

3 - Roadmap
Technical development always takes longer than promised, but a roadmap gives you an idea if they’re realistic about their goals. If the roadmap states that a mainnet will be delivered within a few months, that would be great, but could also indicate that they’re trying to make a quick buck (unless the started the development way before the ICO/STO/IEO of course).

4 - Token Allocation & Price
Things to look at are the amount of tokens they are going to bring out. It;s a difficult factor, but it might give you an idea if they're realistic about the project or just want to make a lot of money. If their total token supply and pricing results in a really high marketcap, you should be suspicious about their intentions. Other thing to look at: Will the tokens be locked up (vesting) for team members? Will they burn unsold tokens? Can they bring out extra tokens whenever they decide to do so? Normally the best token allocation for investors is projects with a low token supply, so you get a bigger piece of the pie when you invest, but this strongly depends on the other factors.

5 - The Rest
There are so many things that could be red flags. Make sure to also verify the information on their websites and social media, does it look real or are they just using empty words, fake testimonials and social media bots. It wouldn't be the first time that you are let to believe they already have a nice User Interface for their wallet, but in reality that are just stolen pictures from another project. Also beware of dubious statements, like stating they're SEC-compliant or already have secured listing on big exchanges. Or things like saying their product can be used in any store or with every bank. Watch out for Ponzi Schemes like Bitconnect, with promised returns on investment for holding their coins. Sometimes they bloat with big whales who have invested already. Always check out the contribution address and try to trace back those big whales, to make sure it's not the team contributing to itself faking that they already have landed investors.

Conclusion
In the end, you must feel safe about the project's intent after reading the whitepaper. A lot of projects that turned out to be a scam had a legit whitepaper at first sight. But after looking closer into the promises they make in the document, how they're going to build it and with whom they plan to make it a success, it should've been possible for investors to pick out the red flags. Of course there are many other factors that could lead to the conclusion that the project is a scam, but researching the whitepaper is one of the most accessible ways for you to verify it yourself.

The SEC also has made a great website to warn people about risky ICO's and scams and they also included a whitepaper about their fake-scamproject, in which you will recognize many of the pointers I brought up in this article, You can check that out here:https://www.howeycoins.com/files/howeycoin_white_paper.pdf.

Fortunately, https://www.allcryptowhitepapers.com has the largest whitepaper database in the world. With almost 1700 projects in our database, it’s the best place to start your research. Also don’t forget to check out the News section, which you can subscribe to by adding our RSS-feed

Thanks for reading!

John - All Crypto Whitepapers

(A different version of this article, including similar tips, has been posted here: https://www.uptrennd.com/post-detail/sto-whitepaper-research-avoiding-scams)