I usually look for longer term investments that have: a great dev team; good tech; an enthusiastic community surrounding them; and have carved out some kind of a unique real world niche that they serve better than most. It's never a sure thing and the volatility of the world in general now only adds to the uncertainty of investing but if a coin has those four things going for it then it's often a decent bet, especially if you can get into it at the right price point.