Just imo, I think some of the "games" are fair play. Spoofing only became illegal when computerised trading started. When it was just humans trading electronica

Just imo, I think some of the "games" are fair play. Spoofing only became illegal when computerised trading started. When it was just humans trading electronically, everyone knew spoofing happened, the evidence was in the order book, and people traded accordingly (and, ofc, spoofing involved taking on monumental levels of risk). The rules we have are pretty bent. Everything is geared towards transparency but if algos work out your trades are actually moving the price, the liquidity is gone. So vanishing liquidity is okay, but spoofing isn't? Hiding your intention is an innate part of markets, and is a way to defend yourself against other traders. I actually support more consumer protection, the pump and dumps indicate that some consumers shouldn't be in these markets. But trading has always been the Wild West (and still is but the banditos run the town instead of the Sheriff now).