The United States Department of Justice has reportedly opened a criminal investigation into possible price manipulation of certain cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin.
Quoting sources close to the case, Bloomberg reports that the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) would work with the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to investigate illegal maneuvers that would have affected the crypto-markets.
The investigation includes spoofing - which consists of passing false orders in order to induce other participants to buy or sell the asset concerned - as well as "wash trading" - through which a trader will buy or sell himself corners, in order to artificially increase the volume of exchange prevailing in a market and attract investors.
The investigation would still be "at its beginnings", and the authorities would be particularly interested in the markets of Bitcoin and Ether. It follows the Gemini exchange platform initiative, which recently partnered with Nasdaq to use its technology to monitor suspicious activity.
This news comes as the Bitcoin was ironed this Thursday morning under the bar of 7500 dollars:
