I'm now checking whether the project is actually working; I really don't pay much attention to what they say about their vision anymore, just focus on how the treasury spends money.

If expenses always fall into big categories like "consulting fees/marketing/partnerships," and the payment addresses keep changing, or a string of new wallets relay transfers, the milestones are always just on the horizon...
Honestly, I start to imagine the escape route.
On the other hand, if the budget and delivery line up: for example, spending on development/audits/infrastructure in one month, then going live, fixing bugs, open-sourcing, and multi-signature signing steadily after a couple of weeks—that's when it feels like they're genuinely working.
Recently, everyone compares RWA and US Treasury yields to on-chain yield products, and I also casually check if the treasury is using "stable returns" as a cover-up; but in the end, the money still drifts into non-transparent places.
Anyway, I prefer to verify the background before talking about faith, but there are a few projects I still believe in.