A group of crypto companies, including Coinbase, Circle, Solidus Labs and Anchorage Digital, have launched a new alliance to combat “market manipulation and abuse” in an industry that has drawn fire for failing to crack down on bad actors.
The Crypto Market Integrity Coalition aims to make the digital asset financial services industry “more inclusive, transparent and productive” for all participants by preventing “market manipulation schemes.”
The coalition cited schemes such as pump and dump; wash trading, in which a market player “buys and sells the same asset so as to increase trading activity, attract investors, and ultimately affect prices”; and other “new crypto-specific” manipulation tactics.
The move comes at a time when federal agencies, led by the SEC, are expected to propose and push new regulations for the fast-growing crypto industry.
“We agree that, regardless of regulatory requirements, market activity should be reviewed and monitored on a reasonable ongoing basis for purposes of detecting and eliminating market manipulation and unfair market abuses,” the coalition said.