In the absence of regulation in alt coins (self or otherwise) you can do certain basic things to protect yourself: Elite was high risk based on such an assessment, refer here https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.7974656
Is it unfair to assume they should do some sort of QA/QC of code for the coins that they add? The 20k genesis block noted above should have been identified, yes?
Well, the risk of that approach is that every coin they list would be perceived as getting a "Bittrex seal of approval" -- they then become responsible or perceived as responsible for any unforseen/undiscovered scams/implosions in the coins they list. Just saying, dont think there are easy answers here. Ultimately, it's up to people to interrogate these devs and call them out in the threads, with the help of techies who can see through the BS and flyspeck things.