INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
By Lionel LaurentBitcoin and other crypto-currencies make up just a tiny slice of the global economy
Drawing investors back in, even with the promise of a less Wild West-style market, will take longer than cheerleaders expect.
Probing price
manipulation in crypto market was a natural next step for the authorities., which have ramped up scrutiny of everything from new token sales
to crypto-hedge funds in recent months
There's plenty of data evidence to dig into, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and SEC have demanded information from a lot of
record of putting spoofers and manipulators behind bars, even those working in traditional financial markets
The practice of spoofing was only made illegal in the United States in 2010, and the first conviction was in 2015
level of order cancellations.
But the drive by law enforcers to dig into the crypto world and demand more transparency is here to stay
This can only dent the aura, and price, of Bitcoin
closely linked to the ecosystem where it is traded
activity in a thin market.
The market today is very different, with more traders, more coins and more exchanges, but greater transparency is
Bitcoin fell to its lowest price in more than a month after Bloomberg's report on the United States criminal probe.
What happens next
Crypto-evangelists will no doubt argue that a better maintained market is a healthy development, and one that will pave the way for the
flood of institutional Wall Street money that always seems to be right around the corner
Plenty of market participants have been asking for more transparency
New crypto exchange Legolas, for instance, has criticized the incumbents as being opaque and vulnerable to manipulation.
Still, the idea
that big risk-averse institutional investors will jump in just as authorities start to trawl the depths of this murky market seems fanciful
come.
(This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of economictimes.com, Bloomberg LP and its owners)
