“My family entrusted me to sell inherited farmland and hold the cash safely. Instead, I put the $60,000 into a token I saw trending on Telegram. The token was SQUID (Squid Game Token). Within a month it went to zero. My relatives still think I’m holding the money in a bank account.

When I first heard about SQUID, I was convinced it was the next big thing. Everyone in the Telegram groups was calling it the ‘future of play-to-earn.’ They claimed it was inspired by Netflix’s Squid Game and would launch an entire ecosystem where players could compete for rewards. People bragged about early gains, and I thought I had found a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

At the start, I watched the price shoot up daily. From a few cents, it ran past $1, $10, $100 and eventually over $2,800 per token in early November 2021. I dreamed of paying off debts, buying a home, and proving to my family that crypto was not just speculation but the future.

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Then it happened. I tried to sell, but couldn’t. Transactions failed, liquidity was locked, and the team had vanished. Within hours, SQUID collapsed to near zero. The developers disappeared with millions, and investors like me were left with nothing but worthless tokens.

To this day, my family still believes the $60,000 is in a bank account. Every time someone asks about using the money for a new project or savings, I freeze. I feel ashamed, knowing I sold land that had been in the family for generations, only to lose it to a scam. I don’t know how to tell them.”

— Edited for clarity

Squid token surged 35,000% and then crashed to zero

The Squid Game Token (SQUID), a play-to-earn project inspired by Netflix’s hit show, surged by more than 35,000% in just three days after its October 2021 launch. Promising access to an online “play-to-earn” tournament modeled on the series, the project went viral across Telegram groups and social media. At its peak, SQUID traded above $2,861 per token, per CoinMarketCap data.

On Nov. 1, 2021, developers executed what blockchain sleuths identified as a rugpull, cashing out millions in Binance Coin (BNB) while the SQUID price crashed by 99.99% to near zero within hours. The team later abandoned the project, claiming they were “overwhelmed with stress.”

The expert’s reply (by The Block Whisperer)

I’ve traded crypto for over a decade, through Mt. Gox, the 2017 ICO boom, and the DeFi summer. Every cycle brings its own hype-driven disasters, and SQUID was one of the clearest rugpulls of 2021. Unfortunately, you walked straight into a textbook trap.