The new Netflix series “Squid Game” appeared to inspire a new cryptocurrency. But it turns out that the cryptocurrency was a scam.

Per The Washington Post, the value of a Squid Game crypto coin dropped from a high of about $2,860 to about zero. The creators of the coin earned about $3.3 million in funds.

  • This was a “rug pull.” That’s what happens “when a token’s creators abandon the project by exchanging many virtual coins for real-world cash,” according to The Washington Post.
  • “They quickly drain liquidity from the product, effectively driving the coin’s value to zero and leaving other investors holding the bag in an apparent scam,” per The Washington Post.
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Before the alleged scam, the crypto coin was created after gamers decided to build a new online version of Squid Game, a competition seen in the “Squid Game” Netflix series. To play the game, you would need to buy Squid Game cryptocurrency.

  • But there were already questions about the cryptocurrency coin. For example, “Squid has been criticized for not allowing investors to resell their tokens,” per BBC News.
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Similarly, CoinMarketCap., which monitors cryptocurrencies, said that the Squid coin can’t be resold, meaning there’s no easy way for people to make money from the coin.

  • “We have received multiple reports that users are not able to sell this token in Pancakeswap. Please do your own due diligence and exercise caution while trading! This project, while clearly inspired by the Netflix show of the same name, is unlikely to be affiliated with the official IP,” according to CoinMarketCap.
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