Do you recall Cryptsy? That once-glorious digital currency exchange that looked more like a lively online arcade? Back in cryptocoin’s early days, exchanging Bitcoin for Dogecoin seemed more like a game of chance than an investment. That’s because Cryptsy was a center of sorts for the gambler class of traders – the risk takers who bet their coins, talked shit on the trollbox, and hoped they’d find the next big payoff. my blog

But underneath the energy, the ground was shaky. Cryptsy opened its doors in 2013, just as the altcoin bubble began to proliferate. It had several dozen, and occasionally hundreds, of coin pairs — many of which most traders had never heard of. Some may even have been the work of jittery caffeine-addled teenagers. Even then, Cryptsy offered a market for almost every coin one could imagine. Prices were all over the map, swung about like a barn door in a gale. If you caught the right wave there were high-fives all around, but if you were on the wrong side there was another night of instant noodles.

If you ever waited over 10 minutes for your trade to go through on Cryptsy, you knew that something dodgy was going on behind the scenes. Withdrawals were delayed for much longer than had been promised. Support tickets disappeared without answers. News of the rumour spreads “like wildfire on social media”. “Is Cryptsy still operational?” Who was actually in charge of this show? The site admin of that site, who does only go by Big Vern, he was like someone straight from the pages of a crime novel. Was he a tech savant or simply a con artist lurking awkwardly behind a hoodie? No one knew for sure.

Then came the collapse. In early 2016, users of the exchange Cryptsy woke up to frozen accounts and a vague warning about “technical difficulties.” Their coins were gone, as if sucked out of the air. Big Vern blamed hackers, though plenty suspected there was an inside job — there were, of course, millions of dollars of Bitcoin gone missing. Suspicion and anger lit up social media. There were two lawsuits, and Big Vern had apparently decamped for Florida. The missing funds? Still missing — like socks lost in the laundry.

The demise of Cryptsy was a hard learned one. It is a reaffirmation of the need for transparency, security and appropriate oversight in the cryptotrading market.” If you ever traded on Cryptsy, you have a scar, a combination of embarrassment and hard won wisdom. It’s the cautionary tale murmured at crypto meet-ups and whispered on trading platforms, a reminder of the risks that lie behind the promise of overnight fortunes. The real question: did you leave before the music stopped, or do you have a screen of your empty wallet lying around collecting digital cobwebs?

These days, when a new exchange piques the moon, the vets think of Cryptsy. They verify withdrawal times, and snicker — sometimes bitterly — at the term “technical issues.” In crypto circles, “once bitten, twice shy” is not in the dictionary — it’s a way of life.