Organising what you have checked
- Author
- CRYPTO PORT Editorial
- Published
- Updated
- Reading time
- 4 min
In short
Write down what you checked, what it showed, and what you could not establish — at the time, not later. Without a record you repeat the same research and let memory and mood drive decisions. The ability to check things only works when paired with the habit of keeping what you found.
Key points
- Record five things: the date, the sources used, what you established, what you could not, and your conclusion
- The line about what you could not establish is the most valuable one
- Keeping what you did not know at the time is what makes the decision reviewable later
- Never write private keys, seed phrases or passwords into these notes
Definition
The habit of writing down the process and results of your checks in a form you can revisit, so that the basis of a decision stays available for review.
Decide first where to write. A spreadsheet, a notes app, a paper notebook — any of them works. What matters is choosing one place and putting everything there. Spread across several places, the effort of finding anything grows until you stop keeping notes at all. No special tool is needed.
Then fix the fields. At minimum: the date, the subject (the asset or project name and its contract address), the URLs you consulted, what you established, what you could not, and your conclusion. Fixed fields lower the effort of writing and make later entries comparable.
The most important of those is the line about what you could not establish. You could not confirm where the operator is based. The contract was unverified so you could not read it. You could not confirm the audit covered the version running now. Writing these down makes it obvious what to revisit when circumstances change. A note implying everything checked out is actively dangerous.
Then settle how you phrase conclusions. Rather than 'buy' or 'do not buy', something like 'confirmed this far, so trying only an amount I can afford to lose' or 'could not confirm, so passing' lets you judge the quality of the decision when you read it back. Recording the amount or proportion alongside also shows whether you are keeping to your own rules.
Finally, set a review point. Every few months, read old entries and add what actually happened. You will see where you checked too little and where you worried too much — and that review is the part that genuinely improves your ability to assess things. One rule: never write private keys, seed phrases or passwords in these notes. Research and access to your assets are separate categories and should stay that way.
Watch out for
- · Never write private keys, seed phrases or passwords here; those need separate handling
- · Files that reveal your holdings need care over sharing settings and sync destinations
- · Keeping notes does not remove the risk sitting in what you could not confirm
Frequently asked questions
How much detail should I write?
However much you will keep doing. Four lines — date, subject, conclusion, what you could not confirm — already work. Notes that feel like a burden stop, and notes that stop help nobody. Add fields once the habit holds.