Squid Game Coin (SQUID): From $2,900 to Zero in Five Minutes

A few cents, $2,900, and a five-minute wipeout

On November 1, 2021, a token called SQUID fell from nearly $2,900 per coin to under one cent in a few minutes. Riding the global frenzy around Netflix's hit series Squid Game, over the previous weeks it had soared from a few cents, minting many on-paper millionaires. By day's end those gains were nearly worthless, the website and social accounts were gone, and the operators had pulled roughly $3.38 million off the blockchain. It remains one of crypto's best-known rug pulls — a trap almost nobody could sell out of.

A "game token" riding Netflix's hit show

SQUID launched in late October 2021 on the Binance Smart Chain, later BNB Chain, billed as the token for a play-to-earn game called Marbleswap. The game supposedly recreated the marbles round from Squid Game: players bought the token, used it to enter matches, and could earn more SQUID by winning.

The project had no official Netflix license whatsoever — no investment, no endorsement. Its whitepaper was thin and riddled with errors, its website was full of contradictions, and CoinMarketCap posted a risk warning on the token's page, flagging SQUID as a high-risk project.

How the price got pumped to the sky

SQUID began at just a few cents. Show-driven chatter, media coverage and fear of missing out pushed the price toward a peak near $2,900 per token. Market-cap figures varied between tracking platforms, but all landed in the hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars range.

The chart strangely seemed to only go up — impossible for a new token with no real players or revenue. The curve was held up not by genuine demand, but by a contract that let people buy while quietly blocking sales.

The fatal trick: holders literally could not sell

Selling SQUID on PancakeSwap required in-game items such as Marbles, which were extremely difficult to obtain. Ordinary users could never gather enough, so sell orders simply failed; holders watched huge paper gains, unable to sell a single coin.

The project's own addresses, meanwhile, were exempt from the rule and could sell freely. Operators kept pumping the price to sustain an illusion of an asset that only rose, drawing in newcomers while quietly unloading their own holdings near the top. It was never a fair game.

The five-minute collapse: liquidity drained, team gone

On November 1, 2021, the operators drained SQUID's PancakeSwap liquidity in one go. With no money left to absorb sells, the price collapsed within minutes from nearly $2,900 to under one cent. The Marbleswap website went offline and the social accounts vanished, leaving investors holding an untradeable token.

Blockchain records do not disappear: trackers put the removed funds at about $3.38 million. It was a textbook rug pull — hype buyers in, drain the liquidity and walk away, all in roughly two weeks.

Lessons: how to spot a meme-coin rug pull

• Borrowing an IP is not a license. Anyone can copy a show, a celebrity or a viral meme. Check the rights holder's official channels; absent any listed partnership, treat it as unauthorized.
• "Only goes up" is the most dangerous signal. Real markets have pullbacks. Buyers piling in while holders cannot sell means the contract is blocking exits, not genuine demand.
• Check contract permissions and liquidity locks. Look for minting or pause back doors, exempt team wallets, and whether liquidity is locked and for how long. This guide to wallet approvals and spotting scams walks through a fuller self-check.
• Only risk money you can afford to lose. Meme coins can go to zero in minutes — assume gains on the screen may never be withdrawable.

FAQ

What was the Squid Game coin (SQUID)?

A token launched in late October 2021 riding the hype around Netflix's Squid Game, billed as the in-game currency of a play-to-earn platform called Marbleswap. It had no official Netflix license.

Did the Squid Game coin crash?

Yes. On November 1, 2021, its operators drained the PancakeSwap liquidity pool and the price fell from nearly $2,900 to under one cent within minutes. The website and social accounts vanished, and on-chain trackers found about $3.38 million taken.

Why couldn't holders sell their tokens?

The contract required in-game items such as Marbles before a sale could go through, and ordinary users could barely obtain them, so the exit was effectively locked. The project's own addresses were exempt and could sell freely — the source of its only-rises illusion.

How do you spot a meme-coin rug pull?

Check four things: whether an IP or celebrity tie-in is officially licensed, whether the contract engineers a price that only rises, whether permissions and liquidity locks are transparent, and whether the team is anonymous and unaudited. If any cannot be explained, use only money you can afford to lose.

Risk warning

This article recounts a public fraud and is not investment advice. Meme coins and copycat tokens have extremely thin liquidity and opaque contract permissions, can go to zero within minutes, and offer little recourse once the operators have run.

Risk notice: Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile, and obscure tokens carry additional risks including contract back doors, drained liquidity and team exit scams; trading or holding them can cost you your entire principal. This article is historical and educational only, not investment or trading guidance. Verify any licensing, contract permissions and liquidity locks yourself before participating in an on-chain project. Information is current as of October 2026.