Like you, I don't like to invest in ICO's, our money is stuck for 6-8 months if we invest.
So far, I have barely invested in 2-3 ICO's only, as you can't tell these days which ones are the scam, and which ones are not.

Ponzi/mlm schemes are the biggest reason for giving a bad name to the cryptocurrencies, most people have lost money either in Ponzi schemes or scams, that never made it to the market.

Very few must have lost because of the market volatility, and that too only because they quit shortly.

Looks like you have a lot of experience of the market and the crypto world.