I've recently been guiding newcomers through DeFi projects and found that everyone's favorite question is "Is this reliable?" but they only focus on Twitter hype... Especially now with memes and celebrities shouting, attention shifts quickly, and newcomers can easily become the last in line. Honestly, I'm not an expert either, so I use three simple methods: first, check GitHub to see if someone has been consistently working on it (don't just look at stars, check the commit intervals and whether issues get responses); second, look for audit reports, focusing on "what was found, whether it was fixed, and if there was a re-audit"—don't just feel safe because of a logo; finally, examine upgrade permissions—who signs off, how many signatures are needed, whether there's a timelock, and if rules can be changed with a single click, I steer clear of those. No rush is fine; like me, a slowpoke, I can survive longer by watching the market while having late-night snacks.