I’ve been in the crypto world for many years, and one thing I learned is that not everything that shines is gold. A lot of people enter this market thinking they will get rich with a few cents, with promises of “to the moon”, with projects that say they will change the world… and then they disappear like they never existed.

I’ve seen everything. Since 2012 until now, the crypto market has had more failures than successes. And I’m not exaggerating. The truth is that thousands of coins died, projects vanished, founders ran away, and millions of people lost money.

I want to talk about this because sometimes it feels like people only show the pretty side. But there is a dark side, a very dark one.

1. The first big failures (2012–2014)

Anyone who was around back then remembers:

• Mt. Gox (2014) – the biggest crypto scandal ever. 850,000 BTC gone.

• Bitcoin Savings & Trust (2012) – one of the first Ponzi schemes in crypto.

• Paycoin (2014) – promised to be “the new Bitcoin”, ended in fraud.

A lot of people lost everything right at the beginning. And even so, the market kept growing.

2. The altcoin fever and the birth of scams (2015–2017)

This is when the coins that promised everything started to appear:

• BitConnect (2016–2017) – maybe the biggest scam in crypto history. Promised 1% per day.

• OneCoin – claimed to be “the biggest financial revolution”, but didn’t even have a blockchain.

• DAO Hack (2016) – one of the biggest hacks ever, splitting Ethereum into ETH and ETC.

And the worst part is that many people believed in these projects. I saw people putting money because “it’s only a few euros” and then losing everything.

3. The ICO boom (2017–2018)

This was total chaos. Anyone with a PDF and a website could raise millions.

Some examples:

• Tezos (legal issues)

• Envion (fraud and lawsuits)

• Centra Tech (promoted by celebrities, ended in prison)

• Pincoin & iFan – disappeared with more than $600 million.

More than 80% of ICOs from 2017 were scams or failed.

4. The modern scams (2019–2022)

Even with a more mature market, scams continued:

• PlusToken (2019) – $3 billion stolen.

• QuadrigaCX (2019) – CEO “died” and took the private keys with him.

• Terra/LUNA (2022) – one of the biggest collapses ever, $60 billion gone.

• FTX (2022) – the most shocking collapse, with the founder arrested.

Every time one of these cases happens, thousands of people lose everything.

5. The coins that died quietly

There are literally thousands of coins that:

• promised everything,

• used aggressive marketing,

• asked for money for “cheap entry”,

• and then disappeared.

Some names many people will remember:

• NEM (XEM)

• Verge (XVG)

• BitShares (BTS)

• Steem / SteemIt drama

• SafeMoon

• Shiba clones

• Squid Game Token (went up 75,000% and then vanished)

The list is endless. And every year new ones appear.

6. The real problem: people want to believe

The truth is that the crypto market is full of illusions:

• “Invest 10 euros and get rich.”

• “This coin will be the next Bitcoin.”

• “Buy now before it explodes.”

• “The founder is a genius.”

• “Partnership with Amazon.” (almost always a lie)

And when you look closely, most of these projects don’t have:

• a product,

• real utility,

• a real team,

• transparency,

• or even the intention to last.

It’s just hype, marketing, and empty promises.

7. What I learned from all this

After so many years, I realized that:

• 99% of coins are worthless

• most projects die in less than 2 years

• scams are getting more sophisticated

• people keep falling for them because they want to believe

I’m not saying this to scare anyone. I’m saying it because it’s the truth.

If I could give one simple piece of advice:

Never invest in something just because it’s cheap. Cents don’t mean opportunity — sometimes they mean danger.

8. Conclusion

The crypto world has good things, of course. But it also has a dark side that almost nobody talks about.

I’ve seen too many scams, too many false promises, too many people getting hurt. And I think it’s important to write about it, even if it’s simple, even if the text isn’t perfect.

If this post helps at least one person avoid a scam, then it was worth it.