Shiba inu, the meme-based cryptocurrency that this week has challenged dogecoin for memecoin supremacy, could be facing a new rival.
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Squid Game, a cryptocurrency inspired by the wildly popular Korean-language Netflix
NFLX
show of the same name (though completely unaffiliated with it), has rocketed over the last few days—adding an eye-watering 131,800% since it launched earlier this week.
However, even as the price of Squid Game’s squid token soars, there have been multiple warnings issued over its legitimacy with the CoinMarketCap crypto data website advising potential buyers to “exercise caution.”
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The price of shiba inu has surged this week, propelling the meme-based cryptocurrency into the … [+]
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“We have received multiple reports that users are not able to sell this token in Pancakeswap,” CoinMarketCap posted on its squid game listing. Pancakeswap is a decentralized crypto exchange (DEX), allowing users to trade digital assets with anonymity and using controversial liquidity pools to create artificial markets. DEXs are regularly hit by hacks and exploits that drain user funds.
“Please do your own due diligence and exercise caution while trading! This project, while clearly inspired by the Netflix show of the same name, is unlikely to be affiliated with the official IP,” CoinMarketCap added. Netflix told CNBC it is not involved with the cryptocurrency and doesn’t endorse it.
Other crypto market watchers have pointed to the opaque nature of the project that has little public information available and the amateurish language used in its white paper. The white paper—a document designed to sell the unique characteristics of a cryptocurrency—made the unverified claim the squid game tokens sold out in an October 20 presale in just one second.
“Why all the founders are not on LinkedIn,” asked one crypto investor via Twitter. “Beware. High Risk.”
The sloppy squid game cryptocurrency website, riddled with broken links, grammatical errors and unfinished designs, also makes misleading claims about Tesla billionaire Elon Musk “shilling” the token, using his tweets about the Netflix show.
Squid game’s squid token apparently follows the format of the Netflix show, with users playing a series of games that seem to eliminate some users while rewarding others. The website claims the game is “coming soon” but doesn’t say when it will begin. The token also features what the developers describe as an “anti-dump mechanism” to discourage buyers from offloading their tokens.
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