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Most cryptocurrency trades may be people buying from themselves

An analysis has found that wash trading, a form of market manipulation, is rife on unregulated crypto exchanges

By Chris Stokel-Walker

25 November 2021

Bitcoin price chart on digital exchange on smartphone, cryptocurrency future price action prediction.

People can buy and sell cryptocurrencies on unregulated exchanges

Oatawa/Getty Images

As many as seven in 10 cryptocurrency trades on the world’s most popular but unregulated exchanges may be people buying from themselves to artificially inflate prices, according to a new analysis.

A study of 29 cryptocurrency exchanges, where people buy and sell the virtual currencies, undertaken between July and November 2019 has found significant volumes of “wash trading” within cryptocurrencies. Wash trading is where an investor sells and buys the same asset to create artificial interest in an investment, often distorting…

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