Gone in 5 minutes: Investors lose millions in ‘Squid Game’ cryptocurrency

Millions of dollars vanished in a matter of minutes after investors piled into a new cryptocurrency inspired by “Squid Game,” the popular Netflix survival series, only to watch its value plunge to nearly zero in a few short hours.

The cryptocurrency, called Squid, began trading early last week at a price of just one penny per token. In the following days, it drew attention from a number of mainstream media outlets. By early Monday, it was trading at $38 a token on a cryptocurrency exchange called Pancakeswap.

Then Squid went on a roller-coaster ride. In a 10-minute span later on Monday, the token’s value grew from $628.33 to $2,856.65, according to CoinMarketCap, a crypto data tracking website. Then, five minutes later, it traded at $0.0007.

More than 40,000 people still held the token after the crash, according to BscScan, a blockchain search engine and analytics platform. One of them was John Lee, 30, of Manila. He said he had spent $1,000 on the Squid tokens, thinking “somewhat instinctively” that the token had been authorised by the Netflix show.

Lee said he was surprised when he learned that he was not be able to sell the token immediately. He can sell the tokens now, but he’d be left with “almost nothing,” he said. Sharon Chan, a spokeswoman for Netflix, declined to comment.

The reasons behind Squid’s collapse, reported earlier by Gizmodo, weren’t clear. Neither were the identities of its creators. Its website appeared to have been taken offline. An email sent to its developers bounced back. Its social media channels appeared to have been shut down. Its Twitter account was not accepting direct messages or replies.

Pancakeswap, the trading platform, did not respond to a request for comment.

In the aftermath, the crypto currency world is mulling whether Squid was what Molly Jane Zuckerman, head of content at CoinMarketCap, called a “rug pull,” in which a cryptocurrency’s backers effectively leave the market and take their investors’ funds with them. “I’m not seeing the developers coming online and saying, ‘Hold with us, so sorry, we’ll figure this out,’ which is what happens when there’s some sort of non-malicious problem,” she said.

Squid’s crash highlights the regulatory gaps over crypto currencies, as government agencies and private firms rush to get a grip on the volatile yet increasingly popular investment.

Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.

As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.

Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.

Digital Editor