Stories where fortunes evaporate in seconds in the crypto world. Here are the most shocking, “no way” kind of collapse tales
1. Gerald Cotten and QuadrigaCX: Passwords Went to the Grave
It was Canada’s biggest exchange, and CEO Gerald Cotten suddenly died in India. Interestingly, he was the only person with access to the exchange’s $190 million assets, and only he knew the passwords. People requested to open his grave to check “did he really die?” – there’s even a Netflix documentary about it.
2. SQUID Token: Emptying the Wallet While Watching the Series
Taking advantage of the popularity of the Squid Game series, a team launched a coin called SQUID. The coin gained 230,000% value in a week; the price jumped from $0.01 to $2,861. Then? The developers withdrew liquidity with a single click and ran away. When investors realized that the ‘sell’ button no longer worked as the price rose, it was already too late. The price dropped to zero within seconds.
3. BitConnect: Hey Hey Heyyy!
The most iconic Ponzi scheme in crypto history. Remembered for Carlos Matos’ famous presentation. They promised users a monthly 40% return.
From $463 it fell to $5 within just a few hours. It left thousands of victims and gave rise to the biggest crypto memes in history.
4. Do Kwon and LUNA: Algorithmic Nightmare
The Terra‑LUNA ecosystem founded by Do Kwon, once seen as the “Crypto King”, swallowed $40 billion in just 72 hours.
Many people lost their life savings in this “stable” system. Do Kwon is still fighting legal battles.
5. Sam Bankman‑Fried (FTX): From Billionaire to Convict
The “golden child” of crypto, SBF, secretly used customer funds for his own trading firm Alameda Research. A single tweet (by Binance CEO CZ) set off everything, and the major exchange collapsed within a week. SBF went from a lavish lifestyle in the Bahamas to a 25‑year prison sentence.
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Squid Game(squidgames.info) SQUID Price History USD
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12.0K @PlanetDefi When greed meets code. Crypto’s wildest rug pulls that left investors holding the bag.
🚨 From hype to heartbreak 💔 the notorious rug pulls that shook Web3. https://t.co/m4cNcWoEN3
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93.2K @fomomofosol This token went from $0.01 to $2,860 in one week.
286,000x gains.
Then it crashed to $0 in just 5 minutes.
The crazy part? You literally couldn’t sell, even if you wanted to.
Here’s the story of one of the most perfectly executed rugpulls ever + what you can learn from it: https://t.co/i13a7Xd8Ts
93.2K @fomomofosol October 2021: Squid Game becomes Netflix's biggest show ever.
Within days, anon devs launch $SQUID token.
The pitch: "Play-to-earn game based on the show. Win crypto by playing deadly games online."
No Netflix partnership. No licensing. Just pure hype riding.
And it worked. https://t.co/ctQVbCL6h4
93.2K @fomomofosol Week 1: $SQUID launches at $0.01.
By Day 3: Hits $0.38
By Day 5: Pumps to $2.80
By Day 7: Reaches $38
Media notices. Bloomberg covers it. CNBC talks about it.
The hype cycle feeds itself.
More coverage = more buyers = more coverage https://t.co/c060oneDPP
93.2K @fomomofosol The "anti-dump mechanism" was genius marketing.
Devs claimed: "We're preventing whales from dumping on you!"
Reality: Nobody could sell. Ever.
Even CoinMarketCap warned users: "We've received reports people can't sell this token."
Red flag ignored. FOMO won.
93.2K @fomomofosol November 1, 2021: Peak insanity.
$SQUID hits $2,860 per token.
Market cap: Hundreds of millions.
286,000x gains in one week.
People on Twitter celebrating life-changing profits.
Except... nobody had actually taken profits. Because they COULDN'T.
93.2K @fomomofosol The warning signs were EVERYWHERE:
❌ No official Netflix connection
❌ Website full of typos
❌ Anonymous team
❌ Social media comments disabled
❌ Can't sell tokens
❌ Need to buy MORE to exit
But people ignored it all. Because number go up.
93.2K @fomomofosol Last message on their Telegram:
"Sorry again for any inconvenience been made for you. If any strange starts coming out of it, ignore it. Thanks!"
Posted right after they drained everything.
The audacity was unmatched.
93.2K @fomomofosol Why $SQUID worked so well:
People confused attention with legitimacy.
"Bloomberg covered it" = must be safe
"Everyone's buying" = I should too
But media covers crashes, not due diligence.
Hype ≠ validity
Always verify independently, no matter who's talking about it.
93.2K @fomomofosol Most people are forever lost in the memecoin trenches.
I’ve created FREE playbooks that show you how to go from gambling to profiting.
These are the exact strategies that helped me go from -$30k to $1M+ in just one year.
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