The bureau's investigation found that Gotbit, ZM Quant, CLS Global and MyTrade were involved in the fraud.
Special Agent Jody Cohen of the FBI's Boston office said the move was unprecedented and aimed at identifying, disrupting and prosecuting suspected fraudsters.
The indictment alleges that the defendants manipulated the prices of more than 60 #cryptocurrency tokens, including the Saitama #token , which at one point had a market value of several billion dollars.
According to the document, the defendants used deceptive tactics to attract new investors by causing token prices to rise and then selling their own tokens at artificially high prices as part of a pump-and-dump scheme.
The defendants used market makers such as ZM #Quant and Gotbit to conduct wash transactions, in which fictitious transactions were made using multiple wallets to create the appearance of legitimate transactions and make the tokens more attractive to investors.
One of the market makers who pleaded guilty described the tactic of finding cryptocurrency buyers and making them lose money to make a profit.
the FBI seized more than $25 million in cryptocurrency and shut down trading bots involved in millions of laundering transactions. Several defendants have already pleaded guilty or agreed to do so, while others have been arrested in the US, UK and Portugal.
Assistant US Attorney Joshua Levy said in a statement that soap trading is a long-known illegal activity in traditional financial markets, and the same rules apply to the cryptocurrency industry. Levy added that:
these allegations are also a stark reminder of how cautious online investors should be and how important it is to do your homework before entering the digital world. Anyone considering investing in the cryptocurrency industry should understand the modus operandi of these scammers in order to protect themselves.
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