Squid Game, a new Netflix Korean show about a lethal competition of adults playing children’s games. The prize at stake is a ridiculous and staggering cash pool. Surprise, surprise, the hit show now has its own cryptocurrency, which debuted with a massive price increase.
SQUID (the name of the crypto coin named after the hit show) is currently trading at $2.22, up about 2,400% in the last 24 hours. And that’s with a market capitalization of more than 174 million US dollars!
The squid coin
The currency, which began its presale on Oct. 20 and has been sold out in just a matter of a second according to its white paper, joins a long history of other parody cryptocurrencies that have seen large price increases for no obvious reason other than good press.
For example, the price of the popular and meme-inspired Shiba inu coin has doubled in the previous week.
According to a Straits Times article, the SQUID token was launched as the official crypto coin of the Squid Game project, which is a play-to-earn crypto platform. The online event is set to begin in November and is completely based off of the six rounds of games featured on the hit streaming show.
But, unlike Netflix, the corporation stated that they obviously do not provide any deadly repercussions. In addition, perhaps what sets this crypto game apart from the series it is based on is that this virtual simulation of Squid Game will not set a restriction on the number of participants (or the maximum final bonus). In the show, the maximum final bonus is set at $38.5 million for the potential winner,
Crypto games?
It’s worth noting that players are going to be required to spend a given amount of tokens specifically made for the game to play each game. Some crypto games will also require players to obtain a custom-made NFT, all of which are available for purchase on their site.
The guards, who wear full-body reddish-pink costumes (the exact color has sparked heated dispute among show fans) and black masks covering their entire face, are among the NFTs that feature characters from the show.
Gameplay isn’t inexpensive, especially at the moment’s costs. If you wish to play in the tournament’s final game, you must spend $15,000 (about $33,450) and purchase an NFT, as stated in the Straits Times article. Each round’s entry costs are shared between the developers (10%) and the prize pool (10%).
The Squid Game platform also has Marbles Pools — another show reference — where users can earn tokens by staking or putting their bitcoin holdings up as collateral to generate passive income.
This follows a recent rash of Squid Game-related scams and malware schemes designed to entice followers.
Should you jump straight in immediately?
However, when it comes to this coin, which has a shady method, caution is extremely advised. Many users have discovered that they are unable to sell these tokens on Pancakeswap, a prominent decentralized exchange, according to CoinMarketCap.
It’s unclear why some users are unable to sell their tokens, but the coin describes an
anti-dumping technology that prevents consumers from selling their tokens if certain conditions are not met.
CNBC has made an effort to reach the developers if they were aware of the problem and working to resolve it. Unfortunately, there was no immediate response. Netflix has made it clear that the cryptocurrency has nothing to do with the show and that it does not endorse it.
Unexpected turn of events
Squid, a cryptocurrency token inspired by Netflix’s popular show Squid Game, has been steadily increasing in value since its launch. However, two weeks after investors began buying the tokens, the value of a coin inspired by the popular show plummeted on Monday.
The game was supposed to be live in November, and the coin’s marketers promised that the winners would get additional Squid tokens. Many cryptocurrency exchanges, including CoinMarketCap, have issued warnings about the coin’s potential for fraud.
The coin’s value has now plummeted, and the coin’s website and social media profiles have vanished.
