What does the coin do? Does the coin have utility — a good, solid, useful purpose — or is the value of the coin speculation?
Is the team credible? Have they built things before?
Does the coin solve a problem that is best solved on the blockchain or is someone spinning an easy, conventional business as cutting-edge technology?
What will be done with the money from the ICO? Many ICOs are a way for founders to raise money outside of the traditional fundraising system. If the money from the ICO will be going to building a useful infrastructure (see number 1) then this could be a good coin. If it’s going to fund a bunch of salaries and not much else, then pass.
Is it feature-based or platform-based? If you have one coin that features something specific, chances are a platform will come along, incorporate that feature, and wipe out that coin.
Is there a network effect beyond initial speculation? Do people want to use the coin or platform or are they hoping to make a quick buck on the ICO and leave?
What’s the marketing and news coverage? Is it hype or solution-based? Is there a FOMO element that may be without value?
How easy is it to manipulate the price of the coin through press or by malicious means
Do you know this space? There are coins for everything. Consider for a moment this wasn’t a crypto investment — that it was a regular startup. Would you be smart money in this space?
Did this pop up out of nowhere? If the Github (code) is very recent, social media is still cold, and the community seemed to appear magically and rally all of a sudden — these are all signs of a classic pump and dump.
Backchannel through your network. Are the smartest investors in the space involved?
Get the backstories, meet the founders, check them against other founders.
Read the code. Test it. If there are any built-in hacks or
backdoors, immediately pass. This is an unethical team that will only enrich themselves.