The Squid Game cryptocurrency, which gained traction after being covered on numerous national and international news outlets last week, was most likely a hoax, with the price plummeting to nearly $0 after peaking at $38.64 on Sunday.
The token, named after the popular Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX ) series but not affiliated to the show, had risen from its opening price of $0.01229 to $38.64 (+300,000%) after launching last week but has since collapsed in what those in the industry are referring to as a “rug pull”. CoinMarketCap defines a rug pull as a “malicious manoeuvre in the cryptocurrency industry where crypto developers abandon a project and run away with investors’ funds”.
The developers behind the crypto project inspired by Netflix’s mega-popular show “Squid Game” say they’ve left the project after the price of its affiliated token crashed to nearly zero.
The most recent development demonstrates how perilous investing in a new and touted token in the crypto market may be.
Accounts on Twitter are prohibited.
The coin’s Twitter (NYSE: TWTR ) accounts have been disabled by the social media platform. The @GoGoSquidGame account has almost 57,000 followers as of this writing.
“Anti-dumping technology”
The whitepaper for the cryptocurrency described “anti-dumping technology,” which barred users from selling their coins unless they matched specified criteria. Users were unable to sell their tokens before the price plummeted, as a result of this.
Although it may be too little, too late for some investors, the cryptocurrency information site CoinMarketCap has issued a warning to users on its site.
“We’ve received many reports that the website and social media accounts are no longer active, and that users are unable to sell this currency on Pancakeswap,” CoinMarketCap noted. “Please do your own research and proceed with caution. This project is not linked with the original IP, while being plainly inspired by the Netflix show of the same name.”
According to the technology website Gizmodo, the coin’s founders profited $2.1 million from the suspected hoax.