The price of a cryptocurrency based on the popular Netflix show Squid Game has plummeted to $ 0 in what was likely a scam.
It rose above $ 3,795 ($ 2,856) on Monday night (AEDT), after rising 310,000 percent in a matter of hours.
But within five minutes (at 8:40 p.m. AEDT), Squid had lost all its worth, according to CoinMarketCap.
This was after Twitter restricted the cryptocurrency token account due to "unusual activity." Squid crypto's website and its white paper (which explains its purpose) have also disappeared from the internet.
There was also a warning on CoinMarketCap's website that says:
"We have received multiple reports that the website and social media are no longer working and users are unable to sell this token on Pancakeswap.
"Please do your own due diligence and be extremely cautious.
This project, while clearly inspired by the Netflix show of the same name, is not affiliated with the official IP. "
Charging
When it launched in late October, Squid was touted as a token that could be used for a new online game inspired by the hit Korean-language TV show, in which people in debt take part in a deadly children's game tournament.
Squid's creators may have pocketed more than $ 2.6 million ($ US2 million) after their viral listing collapsed, in an apparent "carpet-pulling" scam, according to Gizmodo.
A "carpet tug" occurs when creators cash in on their crypto tokens and exchange it for real money, causing the value of the crypto to plummet.
An anonymous Squid investor told CoinMarketCap, "I lost everything I had in this project," after investing $ 6,641 ($ US5,000) in the cryptocurrency.
Netflix said it was not affiliated with the Squid cryptocurrency.
Australian consumers have lost more than $ 70 million as a result of investment scams in the first half of this year, according to a report by the Australian Competition and Consumers Commission (ACCC) in August.
At the time, ACCC Vice President Delia Rickard said: "More than half of the $ 70 million in losses were from cryptocurrencies, especially through bitcoin, and cryptocurrency scams were also the type of investment scam. most commonly reported, with 2,240 reports ".
