U.S. Prosecutors Have Filed Their First Charges of Market Manipulation in the Cryptocurrency Industry

In what they call the first criminal case to address market manipulation and fraud in the digital currency space, U.S. prosecutors have disclosed charges against four crypto companies and 14 individuals.

The charges were disclosed by federal authorities in Boston on Wednesday. The indictment accuses the companies—Gotbit, ZM Quant, CLS Global, and MyTrade—of participating in schemes to manipulate cryptocurrency markets. It is important to note that the investigation has also resulted in arrests made in other countries, which highlights the worldwide scale of the crime.

As the trials proceed, there have been five persons who have either entered guilty pleas or consented to join the guilty plea.

The indictment details a number of allegations, one of which is that the defendants engaged in fraudulent trading methods, the manipulation of the market, and the dissemination of misleading information in order to defraud investors.

The allegations allude to the use of digital wallets, internet marketing strategies, messaging applications, and other ways meant to artificially inflate the value of cryptocurrencies.

Due to the fact that federal prosecutors have emphasized that cryptocurrency firms would now be subject to the same degree of regulation that has usually been reserved for conventional financial institutions, this case has important implications for the integrity of the cryptocurrency market.

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