According to anonymous sources cited by The Wall Street Journal, The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is coordinating with the U.S. Justice Department in conducting investigations into price manipulation in the spot BTC markets. The report claims that the CFTC launched a criminal probe into BTC price manipulation after several cryptocurrency exchanges rejected a request from Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) for the exchanges to share trading data CME.
Also Read: US Justice Department Investigates Price Manipulation in Bitcoin Market
CFTC Purportedly Conducting Criminal Investigation Into Bitcoin Price Manipulation
Last month, it was reported that the U.S Justice Department had launched a criminal probe into whether the bitcoin and cryptocurrency markets the subject of manipulation and misconduct, citing “four people familiar with the matter.”
According to a report recently published by The Wall Street Journal, again citing “people familiar with the matter,” the CFTC has “open[ed] an investigation into whether traders have colluded to manipulate bitcoin prices.
The report adds that “The CFTC is coordinating with the U.S Justice Department” in its investigations.
CFTC Investigation Spurred by Lack of Trading Data Provided to CME by Exchanges
The Wall Street Journal claims that the CFTC’s investigation was spurred by a lack of responsiveness to requests from CME that Bitstamp, Coinbase, Itbit, and Kraken to provide trading data back in January. In response to the requests, several exchanges reportedly initially “declined to comply,” before “provid[ing] some data” after CME reduced the request to just several hours of trading activity, rather than a full day. The report adds that the data provided only included information “restricted to “a few market participants.”
The CFTC, the regulatory authority tasked with overseeing CME’s bitcoin futures markets, reportedly subpoenaed the exchanges for
