Doing your own research into crypto can end up being seriously slow and inefficient.
Especially if you're searching every corner of the internet without a particular direction.
However, everything gets a lot easier if you know exactly where you need to go to get the right data!
And it's exactly what I’m going to go through with you today.
So let's get started!
First, let’s Take a Look at CoinGecko
CoinGecko is the go-to source for basic, fundamental analysis of any coin you could come across.
It contains useful data like coin price movement, market cap, total circulating supply, and much more.
Essentially, it has everything you should look at to assess projects before you invest in them.
Let’s look at how to use it step by step.
The home screen looks something like this...
Even as a beginner, this list gives you a pretty good view of the overall crypto landscape.
It shows which coins are most significant and which ones aren’t so important right now.
It also gives you a quick overview of the market situation for the last 7 days.
By the way, here's a quick pro tip for you:
The market usually follows the direction of the top 2 coins, Bitcoin and Ethereum.
If these two are going down, other coins should generally follow the same direction as well.
But generalities aside, you need specifics if you want to invest in a coin.
So here's how you go about it...
If you click on the '7 days' column, the list will be sorted by gains over the past week.
After the first click, highest gainers will be at the top.
Click again, and you can see the biggest losers for the week.
This can give you a better idea of where each coin might be headed in the near future.
Furthermore, click on the coins you're interested in to see the price trend analysis over the past few weeks and months.
There's also a dedicated 'gainers and losers' section if you want to focus on short-term trading...
And here's what your dashboard looks like for an individual coin...
You can see all of the project's social links, website, and whitepaper on the right-hand side.
Checking this section out is really important for new coins.
A project with a poor or missing website, or inactive social media presence are almost always red flags.
If you scroll down, you'll also see a price graph...
It's really hard to understate how important price trends are when you're looking to invest in anything, especially crypto.
Last but not least, CoinGecko will also let you know where and for how much you can buy your coin of choice...
As there is so much data, large aggregators like CoinGecko are the first place you should look.
But it certainly isn't where your research should end.
A big part of trading and investing is keeping abreast of the latest developments…
And that's where Coin Market Cal comes in.
Yes, you heard me right - It's Cal, not Cap.
Coin Market Cal is your go-to dashboard for a quick overview of important upcoming events in the world of crypto.
Now, Coin Market Cal isn't as sophisticated as CoinGecko.
You start with the most important cards on the homepage...
Scroll down, and you see events that may be a little further ahead in the future.
As an opinion aggregator, you can click on a card you find interesting to see how many people think a particular event is genuine.
Honestly, the home screen may be a little less ordered than you might like, though.
So head on over to the 'highlights' tab from the top right corner...
The most common events you will find might include block halving or mainnet launches for certain projects...
Events like these are typically a bit tame though and might not inspire any exciting price fluctuations.
So if you want to keep your finger a little closer to the pulse, there’s another place you should go to…
Introducing… Crypto Panic
Crypto Panic gives you news headlines from all over the internet from some of the most credible sources out there...
The dashboard looks a bit intimidating - like a coding screen, but it really gets the job done!
It gives you a list of the most recent headlines from across the internet.
A quick swipe through the headlines from the past couple of days, and you should be all caught up with all of the new developments...
You can also filter search results only to show news about your favorite coins.
If you just want to keep your finger on the pulse to catch the next wave, you can filter results for 'Bullish' or 'Important' results only...
If you want to filter results for the latest uploads, like podcasts and videos, or by notable media channels, just go on and switch tabs to 'Media.'...
Now, this takes a little more time than just glancing over headlines.
But it should give you more insight and help you learn about how things really work in crypto.
And again, you can filter the results to get only the most important content up top.
Now just click on a headline or title, and you will get the content’s description along with a link to the original site.
OK, so Crypto Panic is a great resource for staying on top of current events.
But if you're feeling a little bolder and are looking for freshly minted projects to get in early on…
Let’s Dive Deep into ICO Drops
Initial Coin Offerings are the crypto versions of Initial Public Offerings.
ICOs can offer great returns because the good ones are often underpriced.
If you know how to evaluate a project, investing in an ICO might not be the worst place to put your money.
First of all, head on over to the site and look at the main page...
ICO drops has three categories of ICOs: Active, Upcoming, and Ended.
The dashboard isn't very complicated.
Each project shows how much its funding round is looking to raise or, for released project, how much it ended up getting...
Click on the card for an individual project, and you can find all of the details you need to evaluate it.
This includes the project website, all of its social links, and its technical whitepaper.
Scroll down a bit, and you can even find excerpts from the project site...
This should give you a quick overview of the project you're looking into.
But investing in new projects isn't for everybody.
If you're new to crypto, you might want to go towards a little safer route...
So I Now Present you with DeFi Llama
There are tons of different decentralized finance protocols out there, with more projects released all the time.
So, how do you know which ones offer the best results?
DeFi Llama can give you a quick overview of the overall DeFi situation.
Within the site, there are a bunch of different metrics you can go by...
Scroll down the home screen, and you can see the top platforms, according to the metric you choose.
For example, TVL or total value locked shows how much money is locked into any certain protocol, chain, or DeFi overall.
A quick look over the fluctuations over the past month or so could also give you some idea of how the market is doing.
You can also view the total volume traded and fees earned on different protocols to evaluate the most promising ones.
For example, around the time of this video, Lido finance is the most popular DeFi protocol...
You can also compare the TVLs of different blockchains to figure out which one people trust the most.
Here, for example, the most popular one is Ethereum. No surprise there, right?
Arguably, you'll find the most important part of DeFi Llama by moving to the yields section...
Here, you can see which projects are currently offering you the best return on your staked investments.
At the moment, staked Ethereum pools on Lido offer the highest returns..
If you click on a specific liquidity pool, DeFi Llama will give you a detailed analysis of the total value locked and the Annual Percentage yield return...
But it should be obvious how volatile typical cryptocurrencies are!
So if you're looking for something a little more fixed, you can actually filter the list for stablecoin pools...
There's even a section for Halal investment options that may be religiously permissible in Islam.
Altogether, it’s clear the detailed list of staking options can be used for all sorts of analysis on DeFi.
Conclusion
There you go!
In this article, I've walked you through a set of incredibly useful crypto research tools.
I started with CoinGecko, your main entry for critical coin data.
Now, you're ready to use it to track price movements, market caps, and other information about various cryptocurrencies.
Next, I introduced you to Coin Market Cal, an essential tool that keeps you updated in the crypto world.
This tool is all about getting an advance look at potential market movers.
Then, I showed you Crypto Panic, your one-stop-shop for crypto-related news from across the internet.
This tool is key for you to stay updated with the latest happenings that can influence your investment decisions.
I also discussed ICO Drops - your gateway to discovering new and promising Initial Coin Offerings. By using this tool, you can potentially spot underpriced ICOs that offer high returns.
Finally, you took a look at DeFi Llama, which provides an in-depth overview of various decentralized finance protocols. This tool is perfect for you to identify promising DeFi projects based on TVLs, trading volumes, and fees earned.
Every single tool I discussed today provides a different angle to approach your crypto investments.
They equip you with the knowledge and data to make informed decisions in the complex and ever-evolving crypto market.
Anyway that’s all for this article. Hope you enjoyed it!
