The SQUID coin fell to $0 from $2,861 after the creators cashed out their coins in exchange for real money.
A digital currency named after the popular series Squid Game, crashed after its anonymous hucksters cashed out and stole an estimated amount of more than $3 million.
The scam, first reported by GIZMODO, is commonly called rug pull. The term means that creators have cashed out their coins in exchange for real money that quickly devalued the digital currency.
The crypto coin appropriately called SQUID, after the popular Netflix series had soared to $2,861 before falling to $0 on Monday, as per the website CoinMarketCap. Before the scam, the coins rolled out as a token for use in a new online Korean game based on the series had a market cap of a little over $2 million.
The ignorant investors
The news portal that reported the scam first had mentioned questionable spelling and grammar errors on crypto’s website. It was enough to pull down the investors from investing. Other social media of SQUID did not entertain any public reactions. It is that their Telegram channel did not allow comments from subscribers. Their Twitter accounts turned off the comment section.
The most striking error that raised and confirmed the doubt about the possible scam was – the website mentioned that investors can’t sell the coins. Despite this, they have gained huge popularity and have surged as high as 83,000% in just a few days.
The SQUID coin website is now removed, and other social media channels are pulled down too. CoinMarketCap website now runs a warning about the coin on their page.
The future of the crypto coin
It is unlikely that such scams would ever stop in the digital currency space as it is easy for scammers to mix in the crowd of honest people, who are trying to build their coin. The scope of legal liabilities is nil at best to nab the culprit. A few weeks ago, a currency named after a Disney show had also scammed the investors. Even after that, people have bought a coin that mentions that buyers can’t sell their coins.
People can make money in crypto by selling coins like Bitcoin or newcomers like Shiba Inu. But the doubts of cloud over them will never wade away. Thus the question of their sustainability in the future arises.
That might be the reason behind traditional currency has largely been under the government in all societies across the world. Believingly, very few institutions other than the government-undertaking institution can lend credibility to something like currency. Crypto can only survive if people trust it like any real money. And currently, that is bound to change every day.
Investors should always be alert that they should buy a currency that they can sell. The entire ecosystem of cash, both digital and real coins, are evaluated on its exchange value. It is a non-negotiable term. If a website says that you can’t sell but buy, then there is something fishy!
