My only advice is not to buy tokens until you take over their financial management like a lender. Because in early stage cryptocurrencies, the quickest way to lose money is not “bad technology”, but sloppy financial management and no real accounting. I’ve been working in corporate accounting/FP&A (including seed rounds, due diligence, cash management, and intercompany coordination) for over 15 years, and the same red flags pop up every time, just with different buzzwords.
Look for a simple “source and use + runway” model and test it against reality. Things like how much money you’re currently burning, what cash you have on hand, who can move funds around, and what happens if your revenue is delayed by six months. I built a funding model where a single assumption change (moving payment terms from $30 net to $60 net) creates a funding cliff. Crypto teams do the same thing when they act as if a public listing or partnership equals cash flow.
My favorite legitimacy checks are a clean cap table (equity + token allocation) tied to a vesting schedule, an accountable monthly budget, and a bank/crypto wallet statement that matches the books (not a “trust me” screenshot). If I can’t create a basic income statement, balance sheet, cash flow, or avoid questions about how to approve related party transactions, payroll, and expenses, I’m out.
Potential checks: Unit economics and pricing power, not stories – what is the cost to acquire/retain users, what is the gross profit excluding actual costs (security, infrastructure, compliance), what is the path to sustainable cash? In my cost accounting work, founders often misclassify “one-time” costs that are actually permanent. If their model only works if you ignore ongoing security/audit spending, then it’s not a venture, it’s a ticking time bomb.
