You are correct. This was semi-frequent before 2008 but the spoofers were often individuals, and the exchange operators usually tolerated them because they did

You are correct. This was semi-frequent before 2008 but the spoofers were often individuals, and the exchange operators usually tolerated them because they did so much volume (Paul Rotter being the most famous). After 2008, the big algo traders got involved and spoofing was a huge issue because algos are often based on market depth. And the law was changed overnight (and the heavy-handed way that the federal govt came down on individuals, often at the request of algo traders, is unusual). Just generally: "spoofing" was always seen as unethical but it rarely mattered before 2008 because humans learned fairly quickly that when someone piled in orders around the price, it wasn't necessarily real. Equally, what we have also seen is that certain order types that were being used to conceal intention from algos (concealing your intention is a fundamental part of how markets operate) were also being lumped in with "spoofing". On JPM specifically, everyone knew they were spoofing for decades before this. I am not aware of an IB that did spoofing like JPM, and the reason why is that they did a ton of volume in these markets and used spoofing to control the price.