The world of crypto might be one that claims all sorts of incredible future possibilities around decentralised banking and the end of transaction fees and other hurdles, but in the here and now it's also an area that's largely unregulated and more than a little risky.

That's hardly a new lesson, but it's one underscored by the recent ark of Squid, a token created and marketed in an homage to the hugely popular Netflix show Squid Game, which has taken the world by storm in the last month or so.

It was purportedly going to be a token that allowed access to games, much like those featured in the show, where many participants would be (virtually) eliminated leaving huge prize pools for those who made it through.

That was already a premise that allowed for a lot of risk, but now the entire token has collapsed after its creators made sure no-one could sell off their tokens, and then effectively disappearead. They've made off with an estimated $3.38m (£2.48m), and there's not much anyone can do about it.

For full context, the token has gone from a high-point of $2,856 in value to its current level at one cent, a precipitous collapse that will have cost some hopeful buyers hugely. It's a reminder that gimmicky coins and tokens could well be rug-pulls in just the same way, so a lot of research should go into any purchase.