Squid Game mania has spread its tentacles into the crypto world, with the token for a new play-to-earn online game based on the smash-hit Netflix show soaring in value from one cent to over $6 in four days, before plunging to $0 after the scammers behind the scheme pulled the plug.
The online Squid Game, which its anonymous developers said was "coming soon", was pitched as a crypto play-to-earn platform inspired by the Korean series about a high-stakes tournament of children's games.
To participate in each game players needed to put up a stake in the form of Squid tokens or related NFTs from the maker's marketplace.
The tokens launched on Tuesday and saw a dizzying price rise, from $0.012 to $6.27 by 9:00am EST on Friday.
However, within days of the release of the new token CoinMarketCap was warning that it had received multiple reports that people were not able to sell Squid on decentralised exchange Pancakeswap.
By Monday morning, the game was up, when the scammers pulled the rug on the caper, making off with an estimated $2.1 million.