Do you remember Cryptsy? That once trendy online digital asset exchange that made you think you’d stumbled into a colorful internet arcade? When Dogecoin first emerged onto the scene alongside Bitcoin in the early days of cryptocurrency, trading Bitcoin for Dogecoin didn’t seem like a wise investment, but more of a gamble. Cryptsy was where we would all go to gamble our coins, talk shit in the trollbox, and search for our next big payday. reference

But it was a shaky foundation from the beginning. Cryptsy was founded in 2013, when altcoins were spreading like rabbits. It provided dozens, sometimes hundreds, of coin pairs, many entirely new to the bulk of users. Some might as well have been the daydreams of a caffeine-fed teenager. But Cryptsy had a market for every coin in the world, practically. Prices were up and down like a barn door in a wind storm. If you hopped the uptick, celebrations ensued; lodged on the selloff, instant ramen was likely on the table again.

Eventually, if it took you more than ten minutes to execute a trade, you almost had to know that back in the woodshed, something was not right. Withdrawals dragged on endlessly. Support tickets would disappear into thin air. Social media is a fast way to spread rumors. “Is Cryptsy still operating?” Who was really in charge? The site’s administrator, who went by the name Big Vern, was right out of a crime novel. Was he a crypto genius or a mere scammer in a hoodie? Nobody really knew.

Then the collapse came. Frozen accounts and oblique references to “technical issues” greeted Cryptsy users on the morning of Jan. 4, 2016. Their tokens were gone, like the magician’s rabbit. Big Vern blamed hackers, but word spread that it was an inside job — millions of dollars in Bitcoin vanished. Social media exploded with anger. Lawsuits followed. Big Vern apparently hightailed it to Florida. The missing funds? Still nowhere to be found — just like those socks that vanish in the laundry.

The death of Cryptsy has haunted us all. It highlighted the importance of transparency, security and effective oversight in the crypto world. If you ever traded on Cryptsy, you hold that scar — a mixture of shame and hard-won wisdom. It’s the anecdote you trot out at parties to warn people about the dangers of cryptocurrency. The real question here: Did you manage to get out before the music was over, or is there a screenshot of an empty account sitting in your digital sock drawer somewhere?

When a new shiny exchange today promises the moon, the old timers think back to Cryptsy. They check how long their withdrawals take, and laugh — sometimes bitterly — at the term “technical issues.” In crypto, “once bitten, twice shy” should be more than just a saying; it should be a survival tactic.