Squid Game сryptocurrency turns out to be a scam after 40,000% spike

A cryptocurrency based on the hit Netflix show Squid Game spiked 40,000% in its first few days of trading and then has crashed 99.99% on Monday. The anonymous scummers behind the SQUID token have officially pulled the rug on the project, making off with an estimated $2.1 million.

The SQUID token made headlines in various financial and cryptocurrency media around the world this week. Still, it might not be the miracle everyone was hoping for.

The SQUID cryptocurrency peaked at a price of $2,861 before plummeting to $0 around 5:40 a.m. ET., according to CoinMarketCap. This kind of theft, commonly called a “rug pull” by crypto investors, happens when the creators of the crypto quickly cash out their coins for real money, draining the liquidity pool from the exchange.

The SQUID crypto coin was launched just last week and included plenty of red flags, including a three-week-old website filled with bizarre spelling and grammatical errors. The website, hosted at SquidGame.cash, has disappeared, along with every other social media presence set up by the scammers. You can see an archived version of the website here.

(Source: CoinMarketCap )

Earlier, some market experts warned the Squid Game cryptocurrency is a scam, and various red flags were proving this.

The first of many red flags, hinting that the SQUID coin is a scam, is the fact that investors can put their real money to buy the coins, but there is no real evidence that they can ever withdraw their money. After rising over 40,000% in less than a week, reports of investors who have been unable to sell their tokens after astronomical gains are starting to pop up all over the internet.

It is because unlike legit cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and others that can be traded via verified crypto apps like Binance and Coinbase, the Squid Game crypto uses a service called Pancake Swap. Although the service allows transactions, it does not guarantee any of them. Moreover, Coin Market Cap has issued a warning recently that people who bought SQUID are unable to cash out their investments.

Another red flag includes the activities of the cryptocurrency in its social and online platforms. For starters, the official Squid Game crypto website was created recently on October 12. Although the website looks official, with a white paper and an audit section, there are various grammatical errors and spelling mistakes in its so-called white paper. Also, SQUID’s Telegram channel, set up by the unknown scammers, didn’t allow comments from outsiders. And the Twitter account made it impossible for anyone to reply to posts.

Furthermore, the official website includes a fake endorsement from Elon Musk, who was actually talking about the Netflix show instead of endorsing the Squid Game cryptocurrency. Plus, as per the website, the potential scammers are also aiming to release a Squid Game-based “game” soon via a dedicated tab on the site. Moreover, there is a marketplace to buy Squid Game-themed digital items using Ethereum or Polygon.

The token was ranked #2905 among the cryptocurrencies listed on CoinMarketCap, but the price aggregator itself has put up a banner warning about the high risk of investing in the token because it might be blocking the posterior sales – a ubiquitous thing in several crypto scams.

The anonymous hucksters behind a Squid Game cryptocurrency have made off with an estimated $2.1 million.