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>> I doubt any of this manipulation is even illegal? That was my first thought also... in stock/futures trading world, this is 100% normal business as usual. T
by module0000 9y ago
>> I doubt any of this manipulation is even illegal?
That was my first thought also... in stock/futures trading world, this is 100% normal business as usual. The idea of buying all the available XYZ to run up prices is a valid move for a hedge fund with sufficient capital to do so.
- nrb 9y agoIn the MtGox case, the exchange was (allegedly) fraudulently buying BTC with cash that didn't exist, which could theoretically continue for as long as they have enough cash on hand to satisfy withdrawal requests. IANAL but in the US that sounds like blatant wire fraud at the very least; I'm not sure about the relevant Japanese law.
- fjsolwmv 9y agoOf course the cash existed. It was their depositors cash and cash from their depositors Bitcoin
- nrb 9y agoRight, I'm saying the exchange isn't actually solvent. The "cash balance" on the fraudulent buyer account wasn't backed by any actual cash deposit or proceeds from BTC sale, it's just a column in a database table. Theoretically, the exchange buys up a bunch of BTC with non-existent cash, raising the price tenfold, until their real cash deposits are too low to meet withdrawal requirements, then they do as the grandparent post says and disable withdrawals, deposits, or freeze the market until they can get it under control.
- pishpash 9y agoPretty sure market manipulation to create false impressions of supply/demand or to prevent price discovery is generally illegal.
- JumpCrisscross 9y ago> in stock/futures trading world, this is 100% normal business as usual This is securities fraud. Some variant or combination of wash trading, pump and dump, order spoofing and wire fraud. It is not normal.