Lately, there's been a lot of talk about Layer 2 regarding TPS, fees, and subsidies, all quite lively.

As someone who focuses on market sentiment, I'm more concerned about: who will cover the losses if something really goes wrong.
Newbies want to see "credibility," but I think it's better not to be swayed by slogans first—check GitHub: it's not about how many stars it has, but whether there are ongoing commits recently, whether the same familiar faces are merging code, and if issues are being seriously addressed or reviewed.
Don't treat audit reports as talismans; focus on "what was changed" and "what wasn't covered," especially how high-risk items are handled and whether they've been delayed in fixing them.
For upgrades involving multi-signature, I look at who the signers are, how many signatures are required, whether signers can be easily replaced, and ideally if there's a timelock (giving you reaction time).
Honestly, I also envy those chains that pour in heavy ecosystem subsidies; their liquidity looks attractive.
But before putting real money in, I prefer to take it slow—anyway, I love withdrawing and re-adding orders during rainy days, just to stay alive.