Whether the project team is genuinely doing the work, I actually don’t pay much attention to the “milestones” they draw up with their talk. Instead, I start with treasury spending: what the money is used for, how often it gets spent, and whether there are sudden big payments for “consultant fees/marketing fees.” In plain terms, that’s more straightforward than an AMA. And milestones shouldn’t just be written as “launch/partnership”—it’s best if they line up with on-chain actions: code updates, tightening of permissions, and contract upgrade records. At the very least, other people should be able to review and re-check them.

Recently, these red flags are even more obvious with AI Agents and automated trading. On the one hand, they hype up “fully automated sit-back-and-earn narratives.” On the other, they’re vague about even the most basic permissions, risk control, and audits. The treasury also pours a lot of money into KOLs, so I just default to thinking they’re throwing a wedding rather than living day to day… What I’m most afraid of missing isn’t really the opportunity—it’s the signals that tell you to get out in time.