Navigating the Altcoin Space: Questions for the Fearful Trader and Dev

So I’ve been deep in the weeds with some of these smaller cap projects lately, and while the potential is exciting, it’s hard not to feel a bit of anxiety creeping in. I’m trying to balance that degen curiosity with some solid due diligence. For those of you who’ve been through a few cycles, how do you personally separate a genuinely promising protocol from one that’s just riding a hype wave? I’m also curious about developer sentiment when you’re building in this space, what’s the biggest red flag you see in other projects that makes you steer clear? On the flip side, what are the subtle green flags in a team or a whitepaper that give you real confidence? And when a memecoin suddenly gets serious development, does that shift your view of it, or is the initial joke origin always a weight around its neck? How much does on-chain activity versus social chatter actually matter for long-term viability? For the traders out there, what’s your mental checklist before going into a new alt, especially when fear is high? How do you handle the emotional rollercoaster when a coin you’re in dumps 30% on a random Tuesday? Is there a point where a project becomes “too degen” even for you, and what does that look like? Finally, looking back, what’s one piece of advice you wish you’d internalized earlier about navigating these volatile markets? Any wisdom from either side of the fence would be hugely appreciated.