The Netflix-produced South Korean series, Squid Game, captured the hearts of millions worldwide. And rightly so. The production and narrative strategy were superb, making its current value estimate of $900 million well-deserved.
But as mind-blowing as the series is, considering the bated-breath anticipation for the second season, Squid Game has been associated with something rather disappointing — a sudden drop in the value of the Squid Game-inspired crypto token after news broke that it was a scam.
With what many may term an opportunistic move, Squid, a digital NFT token, was created in late October by an anonymous developer, riding on the wave of the astronomical popularity of the beloved series of almost the same name. Understandably, it attracted a dizzying number of loyals who wanted a piece of the “play-to-earn” cryptocurrency.
Play-to-earn cryptocurrency allows people to buy specified-for-use tokens in specific online games. Like a betting system, these tokens can be used to gain more tokens within the game, which can be exchanged for other cryptocurrencies or even actual money at any time.
However, things didn’t bode well for the rising Squid, nor for the Squid Game enthusiasts who hopped on acquiring the Squid tokens, as its developers had other plans. The Squid tokens were designed as in-game tokens that could be purchased for use in the new online game.
There were signs that Squid tokens weren’t legit, but when there’s money to be made, caution is often thrown to the wind. First off, nothing could have hinted at instability better than the price of the token going from 1 cent to almost $3,000 within one week. Secondly, people who bought tokens couldn’t sell them.
The proverbial writing was on the wall, but people couldn’t, or wouldn’t, see. The developers of the digital token promptly closed shop and, according to technology website, Gizmodo, made away with $3.3 million. Consequently, the token’s value plummeted by 99.99%.
This move, very similar to how a Ponzi scheme works in the real world, has been identified as a “rug pull” by crypto investors.
This is a situation where a digital token is created and promoted by a developer or a group of developers that lures buyers to acquire the tokens. After this, and at a point where the value is impressive, trading activity is stopped abruptly, and the so-called developers run off with the money, leaving their gaming investors disappointed.
The interesting thing is Squid token wasn’t the only digital token influenced by the popular South Korean Series. Squid game protocol, SquidGameToken, squidanomics, international squid games, etc., are other tokens associated with the show. Similar to the squid token, the prices of these have also plummeted over the past few weeks, raising concerns among crypto investors about the increased chances of fraud when people can now easily create their cryptocurrencies.
