Busy last couple of weeks for me, as I shifted from Mihalache the Metaphor Master™ to Mihalache the Meme Master™. 

How to dodge the dodgy investment

The worst thing someone can do is to invest blindly into a coin without the proper research. Many new coins and DeFi projects will bring big time money to some, as a result of pump and dump (This didn't ended well for John McAfee)

• To avoid losing money, the main advice for crypto newbies is the most important ... don't be stupid. You will not buy a new house or a new car just because some said is the best, so don't do it with crypto. It's plenty of fish in the sea, as over 5000 coins and tokens are out on the market, which can be very confusing for the "new kids on the block"
• Treat everything with caution and go through the whitepapers. This may save you from disappointment. The important details are mentioned in the whitepapers, such as the strategy, goals and roadmap. Does this extraordinary new coin an unique selling point? Does it have a vision or a plan to achieve success? How this will be achieved and how the coin will be used? How the coin will be distributed and what percentage are the developers holding? This small set of questions will give a better understanding and a general idea about how legit the project is. 
• The Deus Ex! Who is behind the project, who are the developers? How many successful projects they had until now? Tech-wizards who had a crucial success in other projects or have a positive reputation are giving few brownie points to projects, while anonymous developers are not. If the coin is backed by visible people, the chance for scam exits and loopholes is smaller. This doesn't mean that fake profile can't be created to back certain projects.
• Verification is mandatory before investments, especially if you don't want to lose your investment in few days. Investing in blockchain solutions may have a greater success than investing in DeFi meme tokens. 
• Does the sale process looks legit? A quick and forced sale is the first sign of something fishy. If the ICO is to good to be true... it's not true. If the sale process is shady, than is highly likely that the whole project is a scam.

We recently seen the case of Sushi, therefore not even projects on big platforms such as Binance are not 100% save. I recommend everyone to do their homework, invest only what is disposable and create a diversified portfolio. 

New opportunities

I am a big fan of PipeFlare, with the tier 4 reward system and the yummy treats in ZEC, PivX and Dash. The newest update added a new reward: Flare Tokens (FLR), a PipeFlare developed crypto, usable as a gaming token on the platform. They have no real value but in the future they may be exchanged. See the "PipeFlare newest reward" by Steven_BA for an extended guide on how to claim and use Flares.

On Binance Launchpool the Bella farming will end tomorrow, while Wing farming will end next week. However, three other projects will run the whole month giving rewards for staking Binance Coin (BNB) and other alts. Users can farm Flamingo (FLM) for BNB and Binance USD by staking into any of this two pools. The Venus (XVS) farming is available for BNB and Swipe holders at an excellent reward rate and the Alpha Finance Lab (ALPHA) can be farmed by staking BNB, BUSD and BAND. The lottery tickets for ICO must be claimed today and the winners must have the agreed amount of BNB in the SPOT wallet.

Binance Swipe Airdrop campaign is into the 7 week, with 5 left until the end of the distribution. Since the start of the weekly airdrop, I was rewarded with 6 Swipe Tokens, which currently worth about $7. This airdrop came as an extra to the Binance Savings interest and the farming of Bella and Wing.

On CoinMarketCap users can earn LUNA for learning about the Terra project. There are 3 small video lessons containing the most important details about Terra and 14 slides in the quiz, including T&C, and the details for crediting the reward. Make sure you know your 8-digits Binance ID and Binance Terra (LUNA) wallet before you start.

Weekly Stash Stock Party is available for US users, offering a fractional share of a company for 30 minutes. TVlachak is making a Stash Stock Party reminder reminder every Thursday. If you're a Stash member already, simply log into your account at 4 pm EDT and claim the free stock. Last week share was ASANA Inc.

Links and referrals:

PipeFlare newest reward by Steven_BA 

Binance Launchpool: Flamingo (FLM) for BNB holders

Binance Launchpool: Venus (XVS) for BNB and Swipe holders

Binance Launchpool & Launchpad combo: Alpha Finance Lab (ALPHA)

CoinMarketCap - Earn LUNA for learning about the Terra project