Did Mainstream Media Unwittingly Help Scammers Perpetrate this Crypto Heist?

Maybe journalists need to do more due diligence before hyping up another meme token.

Note: This story has been updated and edited significantly since initial publishing.

The Meme Token Inspired by a Netflix Show That Turned Out to Be A Scam

You might have come across a funny new token called Squid Game Token in late October 2021, riding on the wave of the popular Netflix show that had taken the world by storm. You might have thought , “Oh that’s quite cute and very smart to make a token after a popular Netflix show where (almost) everyone dies!”

From a pop culture standpoint, it would have made sense even to journalists — “These guys are creating a “play-to-earn token” inspired by the Squid Game!”

Ironically, the Squid Game Token played out exactly like the famous Netflix show. I’ve written about how investors got scammed with this token in my original piece here and continue to trade the token.

What had happened was, the developers rigged the smart contract so that people couldn’t sell the Squid Game Token after they had bought it. That’s why the price just kept going up and that’s why there were monstrous “gains” over the course of a couple of days. Because no one could sell, the only way was up.

In a market driven largely by sentiment, FOMO, hype, greed, and pure ignorance — calling your token Squid Game Token — surely traders and degenerate gamblers would have piled in!

And indeed they did.

Squid Game Token turned out to be a massive crypto-heist.

Mainstream Media Went Along With the Hype

It’s very puzzling and bizarre to me that top, reputable media like CNBC and BBC reported the story without doing enough journalistic fact checking.

Mainstream media only went to fair to say “buyer beware,” without calling it a scam.

In fact, BBC likely helped to hype the token and draw even more people into this crypto-trap with headlines like “Squid Game cryptocurrency rockets in first few days of trading.”

“If you’re a fan wanting to express your devotion to the hit Korean Netflix show Squid Game — well, there’s a cryptocurrency for that.

Gamers have created an online version of the programme, for which you need the Squid cryptocurrency to play.”

Why did the BBC, a reputable news agency, remain so uncritical, despite knowing that people had already reported having problems selling the token?

“But prospective buyers should beware with crypto price-tracking website CoinMarketCap issuing a warning that many users have been unable to resell their tokens on cryptocurrency exchanges.

One trader told the BBC on Twitter they have $7,500 (£5,442) tied up in the currency that they are hoping will be released in 48-hours.

It is unclear why this is happening, but the company says it is using “innovative” anti-dumping technology that limits people from selling their coins if there are not enough coins being bought in the market.

The company has not immediately responded to the BBC’s request for clarification.”

CNBC didn’t fare better, with the article: ‘Squid Game’ cryptocurrency up nearly 2,400% in the last 24 hours (cnbc.com)

“Netflix’s new Korean-language show “Squid Game” about a deadly tournament of adults playing children’s games in the hopes of winning a big cash prize is a worldwide sensation. Now, it has its very own brand of cryptocurrency that has launched with a huge price run-up.”

If you had read that uncritically and accepted it at face value, you could have been misled to think that this new token was somehow affiliated with Netflix. Which couldn’t have been further from the truth.

Why didn’t the media go one step further to do basic legwork to fact-check?

Are they also complicit in generating hype, selling the dream of becoming crypto-rich, and helping to pump up prices? Because it’s sensational, click-bait, and gets the attention of readers? I thought Medium writing was clickbait-y and engineered to appeal to as many as possible, but it appears that it might not be any better in the mainstream media.

But maybe the problem runs deeper.

Crypto and DeFi are so new that even the professional journalists are uneducated about them. Perhaps our poor journalists at the BBC and the CNBC didn’t know any better.

Mainstream media don’t know any better.

Tread carefully in the world of DeFi

So, what should the take-away be for us? The world of decentralized finance (DeFi) is truly like the Wild West. While there is a lot of opportunity, there are also a lot of risks. Tread carefully, and do your due diligence, for you are fully responsible for all of it.

Don’t blame the news if you lose money, because even reading mainstream media can lead you astray. Remember, they don’t know any better.

In the era of fast content, clickable headlines, fake news, dog coins, and crypto-scams, we all need to read everything with a critical eye.

Note: This is not financial advice to buy or sell any asset, digital or otherwise. Please do your own due diligence before trading or investing in any digital or non-digital assets.

The author writes on a wide variety of topics. His key topics are Japan, society, culture, modern work, and cryptocurrency. Discover his most-read stories here.

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