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The filter Collective Shift teaches members to run on every coin before it goes anywhere near their portfolio.
Short answer: To research a cryptocurrency before you buy, check the business behind it, its real users and revenue, its token supply, upcoming unlocks, dilution and liquidity, then decide your position size and exit plan. Collective Shift, an Australian crypto research and education company, teaches this as step F of the 5-step SHIFT Method: filter every coin before you buy.
Written by Ben Simpson, TEDx speaker and founder of Collective Shift (Melbourne, 2020). Collective Shift teaches the 5-step SHIFT Method, a written crypto plan that members build and run themselves, backed by 4.8 out of 5 from 135+ Trustpilot reviews.
Buying is the easy decision. A thesis sounds good and the price is moving. A written filter slows you down just enough to separate an investment from a story. In the SHIFT Method, filtering is step F, and it protects the higher-risk part of your portfolio.
Key takeaway: Ben explains token unlocks (“think of it like vested equity”), why fully diluted value matters as much as market cap, and how he tracks which sectors hold the market’s attention.
Key takeaway: A hold or sell framework for reviewing each altcoin you already own, so every position has to keep earning its place.
On many projects, tokens for the team and early investors are held in contracts and released over time. These releases are called unlocks. When they happen, new supply can reach the market. Long lock-ups can also signal that insiders are aligned with the project over the long term.
Read our full token unlocks guide for the detail.
Tools give you data. The filter is what turns data into a decision.
In a June 2026 member session on altcoin research, the team set out the sequence of questions it asks about every new coin:
“A good project doesn’t necessarily mean good token.”
the Collective Shift research team
That last point is easy to miss. A protocol can grow users and revenue while its token goes nowhere, because the token has no clear job in the system. Chainlink is the team’s example of a token with a clear job: node operators stake LINK and can lose it for bad behaviour, so the token is part of how the network works.
Ben uses two numbers side by side. Market cap is the value of the tokens in circulation today. Fully diluted value is the value of every token that will ever exist at the current price. A large gap between the two means a lot of supply is still to arrive.
Then check the unlock schedule. Projects often lock team and investor tokens for about 12 months (the cliff) and then release them steadily, commonly over the following two years. Ben compares this to vested equity in a startup, and pays particular attention to projects with heavy venture capital backing, where more tokens are waiting to be sold.
Finally, Ben’s low-tech test: use the product. Try the app before you buy the token, so you understand what you own. As he puts it, value and price are two separate things, and knowing the value is what gives you conviction when the price moves.
Collective Shift is a Melbourne crypto research and education company founded in 2020, with 15+ staff, 1,000+ members and a rating of 4.8 out of 5 from 135+ verified Trustpilot reviews. Our research team applies the same filter in its published research, and the Live Crypto Portfolio shows analysts’ buys and sells with a dated thesis for every entry, so members can see the reasoning, not just the result.
“But we didn’t make any decisions FOR him…
He executed on WHICH coins to buy, HOW MUCH to buy each for, and WHEN to buy and sell them.
Every trade executed by HIMSELF.”
Ben Simpson on X, about a member, 20 Oct 2026 · View on X
If you would like a structured way to apply this filter, the Collective Shift Accelerator membership runs for 12 months and opens with 4 live cohort weeks, followed by ongoing access to research, and carries a 14-day guarantee. You can read member results from members, or check the company facts on our page Is Collective Shift legit?
Check the business, real users, on-chain revenue, token supply, unlock schedule, dilution and liquidity, then set your position size and exit plan before you buy.
Step F is Filter every coin. It means checking unlocks, dilution and liquidity, along with the business and its users, before a coin goes into your portfolio.
A token unlock is when previously restricted tokens, often held by the team or early investors, become transferable. Unlocks can add new supply to the market.
Liquidity decides whether you can enter and exit your planned position without moving the price. Thin liquidity makes selling harder.
Fully diluted value is the total number of tokens that will ever exist multiplied by the current price. Comparing it with market cap shows how much new supply is still to come.
Because the token may have no clear job in the system. If users do not need to hold or stake it, success of the project does not have to flow to the token.
No. Collective Shift provides general research and education and shows its analysts’ own reasoning. Members make their own decisions.
Collective Shift live sessions and Academy lessons are available to members. This guide is general education only and is not personal financial advice.
Last updated 30 Oct 2026. Written by Ben Simpson, Founder and CEO of Collective Shift.
General information only. Collective Shift provides research and education, not personal financial advice. We don’t manage your money or hold your crypto. Consider your own circumstances and speak with a licensed adviser and a registered tax agent before acting. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.
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The Wealth Engine Process
Every Collective Shift membership runs on the same five-step operating system inside the Wealth Engine. Process comes first, proof comes second, and outcomes follow from written rules rather than emotion.
S
Build your written Strategy Sheet before deploying capital so position sizing, risk limits, and invalidation rules are locked in advance.
H
Anchor your portfolio around long-term Bitcoin conviction in 100% self-custody before taking selective altcoin exposure.
I
Focus on on-chain businesses with real fee generation, sustainable tokenomics, and verifiable user adoption, alongside the Live Crypto Portfolio (see our analysts’ portfolio buys and sells).
F
Run every asset through our Fundamental Asset Evaluation Framework, checking token unlock schedules, dilution, and liquidity before buying.
T
Execute pre-planned partial exits using your Profit Ladder so paper gains convert into realised wealth without guessing the exact cycle top.