Digital Assets Research: evidence and risk

01

Research questions and the evidence ladder

In simple words

If a classmate says "this new game is the best", that is a claim. If you look at the rules, try it, and read what neutral reviewers say, that is research. Researching crypto is the same: ask a clear question, find proof, and be honest about what you still do not know.

Before this course: Blockchain & Regulation: how networks and rules work (course 5.9.3), which builds on courses 5.9.2 and 5.9. You can already explain proof of work and proof of stake, smart contracts, stablecoins, the travel rule and how rules differ by place, and you can read a crypto rule like a researcher. This course turns those skills into a full research method that you can use, teach and review.

Key facts

A research question, not a buy question. "Should I buy this?" is not a research question, and this course never answers it. Good questions are checkable, for example: "Who can change this token's smart contract?" or "Is this platform registered with the regulator where its users live?"
Five parts of a framed question: the subject (a network, token, stablecoin or platform), the claim being tested, the evidence that would confirm or reject it, the source you will use, and the date the answer is valid for.
The evidence ladder for digital assets (strongest first):

Rung	Example	Why
1. Official records	Laws, regulator registers and notices	Published by the body that decides
2. Verifiable data	Transactions and contract code you can check on-chain	Anyone can re-check it
3. Independent technical work	Code audits, peer-reviewed or official technical docs	Expert, but limited in scope
4. Project's own documents	White paper, website, terms of service	Useful, but written by an interested party
5. Media reports	News articles	Helpful leads, may be wrong
6. Social media and promoters	Posts, videos, chats, paid promotions	Often conflicted; never enough

Conflicts of interest: anyone who holds the asset, is paid to promote it, or earns from a platform has a reason to be one-sided. Note conflicts next to every source.
Lateral reading: before trusting a page, open new tabs and check what independent sources say about who is behind it.
Falsification: write down in advance what evidence would prove the claim wrong. If nothing could, it is not a research claim.
Regulators warn about guarantees: the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says, "Only scammers will guarantee profits or big returns" (Lesson 6).

Step by step

Write one claim you have seen about any crypto project or platform (practice only, no price claims).
Turn it into a framed question with the five parts: subject, claim, evidence, source, date.
Write what result would prove the claim wrong.
List three sources you could use and place each on the evidence ladder.
Next to each source, write any conflict of interest you can see.
Use lateral reading: open new tabs and find who runs the top source.
Check: your question can be answered with evidence, and it does not ask whether to buy anything.

Watch on YouTube

Check yourself with lateral readingCrashCourse · YouTube · youtube.com

Videos by other creators on YouTube, for reference. They are not made by or affiliated with The Future Market.

LESSON 01Research questions and the evidence ladder

LESSON 01 / ANIMATED LESSON / AI VOICE00:00 / 01:15

Voice

Read the video script

[Host] "'This token is the future.' That is a claim. How would a researcher test it?"
[Text on screen: subject / claim / evidence / source / date] "First, frame a question: the subject, the claim, the evidence, the source, and the date it is valid for."
[Screen: the evidence ladder, official records at the top, social media at the bottom] "Then rank your sources. Official records and checkable data sit at the top. Promoters sit at the bottom."
[Text on screen: who gains if you believe this?] "For every source, ask who gains if you believe it."
[Text on screen: what would prove it wrong?] "And write down what would prove the claim wrong."
[Host] "Research never answers 'should I buy?'. It answers 'what is true, and how do we know?'"

Try it now

Frame three research questions about digital assets (no price questions). For each, fill in the five parts and a falsification sentence. Ask a classmate to rate each question "checkable" or "not checkable" and improve the weak ones.

ClaudeStuck? Copy a ready-made prompt for Claude

Copy this, open Claude, paste it, and Claude will walk you through the lesson step by step.

For a grown-up: Claude is for adults (18+). Copy this, paste it into Claude, and use the answer to explain the lesson to your child.

I'm learning "Digital Assets Research: evidence and risk" on The Future Market. Lesson 1: "Research questions and the evidence ladder".

What the lesson teaches:
- A research question, not a buy question. "Should I buy this?" is not a research question, and this course never answers it. Good questions are checkable, for example: "Who can change this token's smart contract?" or "Is this platform registered with the regulator where its users live?"
- Five parts of a framed question: the subject (a network, token, stablecoin or platform), the claim being tested, the evidence that would confirm or reject it, the source you will use, and the date the answer is valid for.
- The evidence ladder for digital assets (strongest first):
- Rung - Example - Why
- 1. Official records - Laws, regulator registers and notices - Published by the body that decides
- 2. Verifiable data - Transactions and contract code you can check on-chain - Anyone can re-check it
- 3. Independent technical work - Code audits, peer-reviewed or official technical docs - Expert, but limited in scope

The exercise I'm working on:
Frame three research questions about digital assets (no price questions). For each, fill in the five parts and a falsification sentence. Ask a classmate to rate each question "checkable" or "not checkable" and improve the weak ones.

I'm stuck. Please:
1. Explain the main idea in plain, simple words with one everyday example.
2. Walk me through the exercise one small step at a time. Ask me what I've done so far before giving the next step.
3. Don't just give me the final answer. Help me do it myself, and check my work when I share it.
4. This is for learning only. Remind me to check with a licensed professional before I make a real decision about my own money, health or legal situation.

I'm a parent helping my child (about 8 years old) with a lesson called "Research questions and the evidence ladder" from the course "Digital Assets Research: evidence and risk".

Here's what the lesson says:
If a classmate says "this new game is the best", that is a claim. If you look at the rules, try it, and read what neutral reviewers say, that is research. Researching crypto is the same: ask a clear question, find proof, and be honest about what you still do not know.

The activity:
Frame three research questions about digital assets (no price questions). For each, fill in the five parts and a falsification sentence. Ask a classmate to rate each question "checkable" or "not checkable" and improve the weak ones.

Please explain this so an 8-year-old understands: short sentences, a fun everyday example, and no hard words.
Then give me 3 simple questions I can ask my child to check they understood, and a way to do the activity together, one tiny step at a time.
Keep it general and educational. This is not advice for a real situation.

Open Claude

Sources

FTC, What to know about cryptocurrency and scams: consumer.ftc.gov/articles/what-know-about-cryptocurrency-scams

My notes

I learned this

02