It's Crypto Literacy Month and the 99% Price Drop of Squid Game Token in Minutes Proves Why Crypto Literacy Matters

Without cryptocurrency literacy, potential investors are destined to experience greater risk than reward.

British philosopher and statesman Francis Bacon once wrote, "knowledge itself is power." That saying basically means the more you know and understand something, the greater the control you can exert over your own destiny and the surrounding circumstances regarding that area of knowledge. When applied to cryptocurrencies, knowledge of the space certainly provides a degree of power. Conversely a lack of crypto knowledge usually results in yielding your power to others.

Squid Game token collapse erases 219,000% gains

For instance, yesterday thousands of individuals who plowed millions into a sketchy crypto token that launched only seven days ago lost nearly all their funds. The project was something called Squid Game token -- named after the wildly popular Netflix series but in no way directly affiliated with either the Korean-produced series or Netflix itself. Regardless, in the handful of days since it debut, the Squid Game token went from less than a penny to more than $2,856 per unit on Monday, driven almost exclusively on hype and "fear of missing out." Then within a matter of five minutes yesterday morning, the price dropped more than 99% -- wiping out more than 219,000% gains for each unit.

In the Squid Game Netflix series, there was only one winner and everyone else was permanently "eliminated" for losing a series of children's games. Ironically, that seems to be the similar outcome of the eliminated funds invested in the Squid Game tokens over the past few days -- a truly surreal example of life mimicking art.

Regardless, it's highly unlikely that any of those Squid Game token investors took the time to conduct appropriate due diligence or the necessary research in the project to protect themselves. Again, by lacking the appropriate knowledge they seemingly yielded their power to others.

Why cryptocurrency literacy matters now more than ever

Clearly, this cautionary tale demonstrates that the crypto industry has work to do when it comes to equipping investors with the knowledge and tools to take part in this new asset class. That's the driving reason behind Crypto Literacy Month, an initiative that strives to drive greater consumer education about Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies in general, the concepts behind them, as well as ways investors can wisely integrate digital assets into their portfolios.

"In cryptocurrency we have an opportunity to do better and Crypto Literacy Month is really focused on creating that space to focus on education and awareness regarding the fundamentals of digital currency and blockchain technology," said CEO and co-founder of Coinme and Crypto Literacy Month, Neil Bergquist, during a phone interview with me. "The goal is to really help people understand the underlying value of digital currency beyond what they may read in the headlines, which can be confusing and lead to false assumptions."

Crypto Literacy Month is held each November -- and this is its inaugural debut. Every week in November, CryptoLiteracy.org will highlight a specific topic in crypto, starting with Bitcoin. Subsequent weeks will focus on non-fungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized finance (DeFi), and important security basics every crypto investor should know.

Test your crypto knowledge

CrypoLiteracy.org is also the home of the official Crypto Literacy Quiz. Readers can participate in a short 17 question survey to gauge their cryptocurrency knowledge, or lack thereof, as well as use the quiz and individual results as a discussion point with friends and family members to help broaden understanding of this increasingly important digital asset class.

Bergquist says one way they'll measure the success of this educationally-focused campaign is through increases in the number of people who take the survey, as well as driving home the importance of owning cryptocurrencies. "We found in the survey results that people who own cryptocurrencies scored higher than those who were not owners of crypto. That reinforces a saying we have within the space -- 'The best way to learn about Bitcoin is to buy it.' If we can help people understand the value of digital currency and how it works, they'll be able to take advantage of its benefits, while reducing their risks," he told me.

Unfortunately for those who poured funds into iffy Squid Game tokens without necessary knowledge and understanding -- their greed made them gullible. For them, Crypto Literacy Month came a few days too late. Hopefully for the rest of us we can empower ourselves with the knowledge we need for successful crypto investing both now and into the future.