Squid Game crypto plunges to $0 as apparent scam steals millions of dollars from investors

Cryptocurrency’s website, white paper and social media accounts vanish as creators make off with $2.1m

Squid’s website, whitepaper detailing the cryptocurrency and social media accounts have also disappeared (Netflix / Squid Game)

A Squid Game-inspired cryptocurrency is now worth nothing just a day after its value had surged by more than 45,000 per cent.

The Squid cryptocurrency, based on the hit Netflix show, nosedived to $0 on Monday after it was reported that it could be an alleged scam. At its peak on Sunday, the Squid crypto token was valued at $2,856 (£2,090).

The cryptocurrency’s growth had surged within a week of its launch. But those who invested in the Squid token have now lost potentially millions.

Its current valuation shows it to be worth $0.00322 (£0.002356), according to CoinMarketCap, a cryptocurrency price-tracking website.

The cryptocurrency’s social media accounts, including Twitter account, have disappeared. The social media giant had earlier said it had temporarily restricted Squid’s account because of “suspicious activity”.

The cryptocurrency’s website and its white paper that detailed the cryptocurrency have disappeared as well.

Several investors had earlier complained of grammatical errors in the white paper, signalling early signs of trouble.

After Squid’s value plummeted, market spectators took to Twitter and slammed its authenticity.

Emin Gun Sirer, chief executive and founder of blockchain industry platform Ava Labs, said: “99.99 per cent drop on the squid game token. I mean, what did you guys expect?”

There was nothing behind the cryptocurrency except it took its name from a popular show, he added.

One video on Twitter showed a man tracking the currency’s value right at the moment it crashed. “It went to zero,” the man can be heard screaming in the video.

Forecasts indicated Squid’s creators could have made off with $2.1m (£1.5m) after the crash, according to Gizmodo.

The Squid token was among the most-watched new cryptocurrencies. It was introduced as part of a project where people could buy tokens to participate in online games from which they could earn more tokens and exchange them for other cryptocurrencies or fiat money.

It was later to be used in a much-anticipated online game based off the programme that was scheduled to be launched this month.

“The more people join, the larger reward pool will be,” the cryptocurrency’s whitepaper had said, adding that “10 per cent of entry fee will be sent to developers wallet and the rest 90 per cent will be added to the reward pool for the last winner of the game.”

Squid Game has become one of the most-watched series of all the time, with Netflix saying it was viewed by more than 111 million people in the nearly four weeks from its launch to 12 October.