NetflixInvestors looking to make money from a Squid Game cryptocurrency have had their hopes crushed as scammers initiated a so-called ‘rug pull’ on the project.
Inspired by the hit Netflix series, the SQUID token arrived on the market last week and quickly soared in value, increasing by almost 25,000% in less than a week.
The emergence of the crypto came with a number of red flags, including a number of spelling and grammar errors on its website and a Telegram channel and Twitter account which limited comments and responses.
NetflixThe most concerning element of the crypto was highlighted by Gizmodo, which pointed out that no one who purchased the coin was able to sell it, meaning it would have been impossible for them to make money from it.
Unfortunately, the crypto still managed to dupe investors, and SQUID peaked at a price of $2,861 before suddenly plummeting to $0 at approximately 5.00am ET today, November 1, according to the website CoinMarketCap.
Dubbed a ‘rug pull’ by investors, the drop indicates the scammers responsible for the currency cashed out their coins in exchange for real money, thus draining the liquidity pool from the exchange.
Through the scheme, the anonymous creators of SQUID managed to make off with an estimated $2.1 million. The sudden move was accompanied by the removal of the SQUID website, hosted at SquidGame.cash, and all associated social media pages.
Did you hear about the Squid Game Token that was released recently? It rose by more than 60,000% in less than a week.
It was a classic ‘Rug Pull’ scam, and the moment was captured live by @imBagsy.
Be careful out there and make sure you do your research before investing
— Trust – Crypto Wallet (@TrustWallet) November 1, 2021
Gizmodo has noted it is incredibly difficult to identify scammers in cryptocurrency, but advised those looking to invest to figure out if it is possible to sell the coins they’re looking to buy. If the crypto cannot be sold, the price of it becomes irrelevant.
The collapse of SQUID comes after Twitter flagged the cryptocurrency’s account as suspicious and restricted access to the page.
When it first emerged, the SQUID cryptocurrency was marketed as a play-to-earn token which gave investors the opportunity to win prize money through six online games, drawing inspiration from the Netflix show in which contestants took on a series of challenges in a bid to win life-changing amounts of money.
Investors were told ‘the more people join, the larger reward pool will be (sic)’, and that developers would take 10% of the entry fees, while 90% of the fees would go to the winner of the games.
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