Your standard hawker’s market–coins clinking, traders all shouting at once. Now imagine this chaotic scene from your computer screen. Cryptsy was exactly that in the past: a digital marketplace full of cryptocurrency exchanges. At its peak, it was a buzzing, hub-of-activity meeting place to crypto enthusiasts everywhere. Ready-made opportunities wore the gleam of a bitcoin freshly minted. Discover insights

With grand aspirations Cryptsy was born in 2013. Founded by Paul Vernon ( founder and operator ), it quickly grew into one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges time had known. Traders flocked like moths to its flame. A chance to trade in over 90 cryptocurrencies-what a smorgasbord for someone just getting started! The variety was enough to make you dizzy, similarly a small child let loose in a candy store. Each and every virtual coin held out potential.

Even though something is light that doesn’t mean its gold. What lay beneath Cryptsy’s shining facade-of giving missing coins back and security loopholes-was really only an empty space. By the time that whisper grew into a roar it was too late for many people. One could say a bit too early, but holding bitcoins in Cryptsy was equivalent to storing a chocolate bar outside on a sunny day. You see how things are very likely to end.

In his heyday, “Big Vern” was a well-liked character. That all changed when the flashing neon lights of online forums started to whisper his name in hushed voices. Charges of embezzlement, fraud–you name it. Imagine falling from such great heights! Today even after Cryptsy’s collapse there is still a bitter taste in one’s mouth-something akin to the feeling when you bite into a lemon, a hoping it may turn out ripe orange.

Remember that one time when your friend swore up and down about his solid investment advice? Then look what you got: Bitfinex. Robbing Peter to pay Paul, except in this case somebody else’s pockets with money, not your own funds. Sooner or later, folks opening wide eyes wide for now in went money–straight over the bathtub’s edge and out among sea of digital ruin like lovely morning mist dissipating on calm waters before a storm comes.

Oh, and those lawsuits – they really were quite a spectacle. Class action suits emerged like mushrooms after the rain. At last the Cryptsy black hole was tackled by an American District court, but that provided no satisfaction for countless hopeful investors. It left only echoes of regret and frustration.

There is this old saying: “When something seems too good to be true, it probably is.” The Cryptsy saga teaches a valuable lesson. As we tread the cryptic path today, a history of misfortunes keeps our feet nimble. So maybe go fetch an umbrella next time someone tells you, “I’ll give you the moon and stars!”-Not so much to avoid rain as falling objects.