Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX and Elizabeth Holmes' Theranos are but modern-day reincarnations of Cazique MacGregor’s Poyais.

For credulous investors, Poyais was an exotic land of unparalleled opportunity.

Was the remarkable territory of Poyais—full of unbounded commercial and civic promise—all it was made up to be? Or was it simply too good to be true?