The Smartest Crypto Investors track a project's Communication, Roadmap & More
Most crypto research stops at the price chart. But the projects that survive several market cycles usually share two boring traits: they tell you what they're building, and they show you where they are in the build.
This video walks through that idea using two Hedera-based projects Brian has invested in — Saucer Swap and Bonzo Finance — as working examples of what good communication and a public roadmap actually look like.
Every Project Has Phases — Know Which One You're Buying
Startups and crypto projects move through stages: the idea, the build, proof of concept, beta, then launch. Buying because someone online said a token was "about to blow up" skips all of that. You end up holding something without knowing what it does or who's behind it.
Two questions do a lot of work here. Where is this project on its timeline? And who are the people building it? If the team page is a handful of cartoon avatars and no names, that's information too.
Brian shared a real example: a project he bought because the plan sounded amazing. After getting on calls with the team, his read was that these weren't the people who would deliver it. He exited — profitably, by luck of timing — but the exit decision came from judging the team, not the chart. Thinking this way is closer to equity research than speculation, which is why it helps to evaluate a crypto project like a stock investor would.
Communication Is a Signal You Can Track for Free
Saucer Swap posts almost daily about what's being developed and what's shipping. When they released a new API agreement, parts of the community pushed back with specific objections. The team re-evaluated, pulled it, and said they'd incorporate the feedback — then communicated that publicly.
That exchange matters more than the agreement itself. It shows a team that listens and a community engaged enough to read the fine print.
Why an API even matters: APIs let outside developers pull a project's data into their own applications. A ten-person team can only build so fast. Ten thousand outside developers building on your data is how services grow exponentially — which is part of how Twitter and others scaled early on.
Bonzo Finance does it differently but just as well: weekly Friday community calls where founders answer submitted or live questions, plus a blog and public roadmap. If you want to understand the ecosystem these two sit in, start with how DeFi works on Hedera with Saucer Swap and Bonzo.
The flip side is the warning sign: when a project that used to post constantly goes quiet, something may be happening in the background. Staying on top of communication is how you notice early.
The Roadmap Tells You If They're Still Iterating
A roadmap is a project plan in public — what's done, what's near-term, what's further out. Check it periodically. A roadmap that keeps getting updated with shipped features means the team is iterating. A roadmap frozen for a year means the opposite.
Saucer Swap is the number one DEX on Hedera with $6.4 billion in total trade volume, roughly $40 million in total value locked, and a version three release in progress — while being profitable every quarter, which is rare in crypto. Bonzo Finance, which calls itself a liquidity layer rather than just lending, has around $15 million locked. Every layer one needs both an exchange and a liquidity layer.
Since tracking a project means tracking it over months, not minutes, it helps to set this up once. Putting these tokens on a chart with price and volume alerts in TradingView for crypto charting and alerts means you get notified of big moves instead of refreshing tabs, and you can pair that with a monthly check of the roadmap and X feed. Building a crypto watchlist you actually review makes the habit stick.
Put It Into Practice
Usage stats, revenue, communication cadence, roadmap progress. Four inputs, all publicly available, none of them requiring a price prediction.
If you'd like to work through this kind of due diligence alongside other investors — and get feedback on projects you're already holding — join the free community at skool.com/crypto-profit to learn how experienced investors research and track crypto projects.
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