The Squid Game coin (ticker: SQUID) was a fraudulent BEP-20 token launched in October 2021 that exploited Netflix show popularity. Its creators used a honeypot smart contract to block investors from selling, pumped the price to roughly $2,861, then drained the liquidity pool and vanished with an estimated $3.38 million in investor funds.
- Key Takeaway 1: SQUID was never affiliated with Netflix or the Squid Game show. It was a fraudulent token from day one.
- Key Takeaway 2: A honeypot smart contract prevented buyers from selling, trapping their funds while the price was artificially pumped.
- Key Takeaway 3: The rug pull took less than five minutes. The price collapsed from approximately $2,861 to near zero almost instantly on November 1, 2021.
- Key Takeaway 4: Binance did not list SQUID on its main exchange. It was traded on PancakeSwap, a decentralised exchange with no listing vetting.
- Key Takeaway 5: Every major red flag was visible before the crash. Knowing those flags can protect your portfolio today.
How the Squid Game Coin Rose So Fast
Netflix’s Squid Game became the platform’s most-watched show ever after its September 2021 release, pulling in 111 million viewers in its first 28 days, according to Netflix’s own earnings disclosures. Crypto scammers spotted an obvious opportunity in that cultural moment.
The SQUID token appeared on Binance Smart Chain (now BNB Chain) around October 20, 2021. Its whitepaper described a play-to-earn game where players would use SQUID tokens to enter rounds inspired by the show. It sounded plausible enough that mainstream outlets including BBC News and CNBC covered its price rise without enough scrutiny.
From a launch price of roughly $0.01, SQUID climbed to an all-time high of approximately $2,861.80 on November 1, 2021, according to data tracked by CoinMarketCap at the time. That is a gain of over 28 million percent in under two weeks. Any seasoned trader should have read that as a warning, not an invitation.
The Role of FOMO and Media Coverage
Retail investors, including many in India who were riding the 2021 bull market on platforms like WazirX and CoinDCX, saw the headlines and rushed in. The 2021 bull run had already normalised extraordinary gains, which made a 28-million-percent move feel possible rather than impossible.
The project’s Telegram channel reportedly grew to tens of thousands of members within days. Hype was the product. The actual game being promised never existed in any functional form.
The Honeypot Mechanic: Why Nobody Could Sell
This is where the Squid Game coin scam gets technically interesting, and genuinely dangerous. The smart contract was coded as a honeypot: a contract that lets you buy tokens freely but blocks you from selling them. If you tried to sell SQUID on PancakeSwap, the transaction would fail every single time.
The developers built in a fake anti-dumping rule. To sell SQUID, you supposedly needed a second token called Marbles, which could only be earned by playing the game that did not exist yet. In practice, no ordinary investor could ever exit their position. For a detailed breakdown of how honeypot contracts work technically, read our honeypot token explainer.
Why Decentralised Exchanges Made This Worse
SQUID traded on PancakeSwap, a decentralised exchange (DEX) on BNB Chain. DEXs have no listing process, no KYC on project teams, and no mechanism to freeze fraudulent tokens. Anyone can deploy a contract and create a trading pair. That is a feature for legitimate DeFi, but it is a wide-open door for scammers.
Indian investors should note that even reputable Indian exchanges like ZebPay or Mudrex do not list every token that exists on-chain. If a token is only available on a DEX and not on any regulated or vetted platform, that is a significant red flag on its own.
The Rug Pull: Five Minutes to Zero
On November 1, 2021, the anonymous developers activated the exit. They drained the liquidity pool on PancakeSwap, converting all the BNB held in the pool to their own wallets. The price of SQUID dropped from its peak of approximately $2,861 to less than $0.0007 in under five minutes, as reported by BBC News on November 2, 2021.
Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis later estimated the total theft at approximately $3.38 million USD (roughly 28 crore rupees at November 2021 exchange rates). The developers’ wallets were then funnelled through a privacy mixer, making recovery essentially impossible. No arrests have been publicly confirmed as of mid-2026.
| Date | Event | SQUID Price (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| ~Oct 20, 2021 | Token launches on PancakeSwap | ~$0.01 |
| Oct 26, 2021 | Mainstream media coverage begins | ~$2.22 |
| Oct 29, 2021 | Price surge accelerates | ~$38.00 |
| Nov 1, 2021 (peak) | All-time high reached | ~$2,861.80 |
| Nov 1, 2021 (crash) | Liquidity drained, rug pull executed | ~$0.0007 |
Red Flags That Were There All Along
Every warning sign was visible before the Squid Game coin crash. Looking back, SQUID was practically a textbook scam checklist. Here is how each classic red flag mapped to this specific case.
Anonymous Team With No Verifiable Identity
The project had no named founders, no LinkedIn profiles, and no verifiable identities attached to it. Legitimate projects, even meme coins, usually have at least some public-facing team members who can be held accountable.
No Audit, No Verified Contract
The SQUID smart contract was never audited by a reputable firm like CertiK or PeckShield. A quick check of the contract on BscScan would have shown the sell restriction function to anyone who knew what to look for.
Sell Restrictions Built Into the Contract
Users reported being unable to sell almost immediately after launch. This was flagged on Reddit and crypto Twitter within the first few days. The developers dismissed complaints as user error. That dismissal should have been the final warning.
Whitepaper Promised Vaporware
The promised game never had a working demo, no GitHub repository with active code commits, and no testnet deployment. A whitepaper describing future utility is easy to write. Working code is not.
Unnatural Price Velocity
A token going from $0.01 to $2,861 in roughly ten days has no organic demand basis. It signals coordinated wash trading or pure momentum speculation with no exit liquidity for latecomers.
You can cross-reference all of these against our meme coin safety checklist before putting a single rupee into any new token.
Was Squid Game Coin on Binance?
No. Binance did not list SQUID on its centralised exchange. After the collapse, Binance issued a statement saying it was investigating the token and warned users that it had no affiliation with the project. The confusion arose because SQUID ran on Binance Smart Chain (the blockchain network), which is separate from Binance’s centralised trading platform. The terms sound similar but they are entirely different things.
What Indian Investors Should Take From This in 2026
The Squid Game coin rug pull happened in 2021, but the mechanics it used are still being deployed today. New seasons of the show, new cultural moments, and new bull markets will always produce copycat scams riding the same wave.
For Indian investors, the tax angle adds an extra layer of pain. Under India’s VDA tax rules, you would owe 30% flat tax on any gains from crypto, with 1% TDS deducted at source on qualifying transactions. But here is the brutal part: if you bought SQUID and lost everything, you cannot offset those losses against gains from other crypto assets under current Indian tax law. You lose twice: once to the scammer and once to a tax framework that does not allow cross-asset loss setoffs for VDAs.
SEBI and RBI have not officially regulated crypto trading in India as of mid-2026, which means there is no investor protection fund, no ombudsman, and no legal recourse if a DEX token drains your wallet. That is the reality you are operating in.
Practical Steps Before Buying Any New Token
- Check whether the contract is verified and audited on BscScan or Etherscan.
- Try a small test sell immediately after buying. If it fails, exit the position by any means available.
- Look up the team. Anonymous teams are not automatically scams, but they are a higher-risk category.
- Search the token name plus the word scam or rug pull on Twitter and Reddit before investing.
- Check whether liquidity is locked on a platform like DxLock or Team Finance. Unlocked liquidity is a direct exit route for developers.
- Stick to tokens listed on regulated or well-vetted platforms like CoinDCX, ZebPay, or Mudrex for the bulk of your portfolio.
If you are unsure how to spot fake token promotions before they hit your feed, our guide on spotting fake crypto airdrops covers the social engineering tactics scammers use. And if you are exploring meme coins more broadly, the meme coin investing guide for 2026 gives a framework for separating speculative plays from outright fraud.
Crypto carries real financial risk. Never invest money you cannot afford to lose entirely, and treat any token with extraordinary short-term gains as a potential trap until proven otherwise.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happened to the Squid Game coin?
The SQUID token launched in October 2021 riding the popularity of the Netflix show. Its creators used a honeypot smart contract to prevent investors from selling, pumped the price to roughly $2,861, then drained the liquidity pool on November 1, 2021. The price collapsed to near zero in minutes and the developers vanished with an estimated $3.38 million in investor funds.
Was Squid Game coin a scam from the beginning?
Yes. The token had no affiliation with Netflix or the show’s creators. The smart contract was deliberately coded to block sells. The promised play-to-earn game never existed in any functional form. Every element of the project was designed to trap investors and allow the founders to exit with the pooled funds.
How much did the Squid Game coin rug pull steal?
Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis estimated the theft at approximately $3.38 million USD, which was roughly 28 crore rupees at November 2021 exchange rates. Funds were moved through a privacy mixer shortly after the rug pull, making tracing and recovery extremely difficult. No public arrests have been confirmed as of mid-2026.
Was SQUID listed on Binance?
No. Binance the centralised exchange never listed SQUID. The token ran on Binance Smart Chain, which is a public blockchain network separate from the Binance trading platform. After the collapse, Binance issued a statement confirming it had no role in the token and was investigating the incident. The naming similarity caused widespread confusion among retail investors.
How do I avoid coins like SQUID in the future?
Check for a verified, audited smart contract before buying. Test a small sell immediately after purchase. Research the team’s real identities. Watch for unnatural price velocity with no product behind it. Avoid tokens only available on DEXs with no vetting. Stick to established Indian platforms like CoinDCX or ZebPay for your core holdings. Our meme coin safety checklist walks through each step in detail.
Last updated: July 15, 2026. Reviewed by Priya Nair, Senior Editor, CryptoWire.
