One of the first things that I get asked by people who have just gotten into yield farming is, "what tools are best at evaluating projects?" This article will be a streamlined answer to that question. If you are just getting started or are looking for new tools it's a quick read to get you to the right places.
1. VFAT - https://vfat.tools/polygon/
Vfat.tools is a minimalist yield farming dashboard and farming calculator where you can find the most popular farms and their APY. The two main reasons to get familiar with VFAT:
1. It helps you find and evaluate projects that might not be on your radar.
2. If you click on the "various" link next to the project you are invested in (or want to invest in), you can stake and unstake (interact with the contract) WITHOUT having to interact with the main project website itself. So if the main project website is under a DDOS attack, having problem with their API or UI is just "not working for some reason" you can still steak or sometimes more importantly unstake your assets with this tool.
2. RUG DOC - https://rugdoc.io/
Probably the most trusted community based project evaluation tool. It works at the code level to evaluate the risk of projects for those who do not know how to read smart contracts or code. A lot of projects that get around their defenses by changing their code after Rug doc has reviewed it. Also, often times scam sites will say that they are reviewed or even audited by RugDoc when they are not. Always check the website on a project you were about to invest in to help evaluate risk. NFA.
Also familiar rising yourself and leveraging their smart contract emergency withdrawal tool will help you at some point if you get deep into yield farming or defi. https://rugdoc.io/emergency/
3. Certik - https://leaderboard.certik.io/
The most trusted auditor in the business. That being said even though they may be the gold standard there are still a lot of projects that get around their defenses by changing code after it has been reviewed. They are official auditors, thorough, paid and impartial. It is their business model to do auditing. Rug Doc is a community-based project that does a great job performing audit similar tasks however they are not an auditor.
4. Heatmap of Polygon Network Coins - https://doge2.app/polygon-matic-heatmap.php
Sometimes you just need to get a pulse on what's going on that day. This is a great way to see what's going up, what's coming down and to find new projects to evaluate. The chart is updated every time you refresh the page.
5. REDDIT Community Google Doc - r/polygonyieldfarming -https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zehsIQjIGigtuENgmtor7vx7YMEKbitb0-89HEr-UzI/edit?usp=sharing
This google doc is maintained by a Reddit community that focuses on trying to identify the best projects and separating the projects that are likely to be a scam. It's perfect for a novice might not be as useful to an expert farmer.
Full report of newly launched successful farms:
https://www.publish0x.com/polygonyieldfarming/new-this-past-weeks-successfully-launched-high-risk-farms-th-xnxqvpz
Twitter: @ococrypto
More info on legitimate projects here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zehsIQjIGigtuENgmtor7vx7YMEKbitb0-89HEr-UzI/edit?usp=sharing
