The US Department of Justice has announced charges against multiple individuals and entities for allegedly engaging in wash trading and defrauding investors. Among those named was a company familiar to long-time CoinDesk readers.
The indictment revealed that the accused parties used fake trading volumes to deceive investors and manipulate the market. One of the key players, Alexey Andryunin, had previously admitted to CoinDesk in 2019 that his business was 'not entirely ethical' as it aimed to artificially inflate trading volumes for small-cap cryptocurrencies to secure listings on CoinMarketCap. The FBI used a fake token, NexFundAI, to track and gather evidence against the accused.
The case highlights the ongoing issue of wash trading in the cryptocurrency industry, which can have negative consequences for the market.