美國監管機構聯手向多家做市商收取費用，扣押超過 2,500 萬美元的加密貨幣

紐交所「專家」和港交所「做市商」被公認為重要的流動性提供者

The New York Stock Exchange's "specialists" and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's "market makers" are both recognized as important liquidity providers in the market, having considerable influence on market prices, especially in the crypto space where they hold the "power of life and death" over altcoins. Recently, U.S. regulators have teamed up to lure several market makers through sting operations, bringing charges of market manipulation and fraud.

紐交所的「專家」和港交所的「做市商」都被認為是市場上重要的流動性提供者，對市場價格有著相當大的影響力，尤其是在加密貨幣領域，他們掌握著「生命力與力量」。最近，美國監管機構聯手透過誘騙行動引誘多家做市商，並指控其操縱市場和詐欺。

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced joint charges on October 9 against eighteen individuals and entities for large-scale fraud and manipulation in the crypto market, including Gotbit Consulting, ZM Quant Investment, CLS Global, and Saitama.

美國證券交易委員會 (SEC)、聯邦調查局 (FBI) 和司法部 (DOJ) 於 10 月 9 日宣布對 18 名個人和實體提起聯合指控，罪名是在加密貨幣市場進行大規模欺詐和操縱，包括Gotbit Consulting、ZM Quant Investment、CLS Global 和Saitama。

According to court documents, these institutions secretly provided wash trading services to crypto projects, exaggerating trading volumes to create a false impression of trading activity and attracting investors to sell tokens at inflated prices. Among them, Gotbit is a market maker heavily involved in the MEME sector, participating in MEME projects such as BONK, ANALOS, DUKO, PENG, and SOLAMA. However, due to multiple collaborative projects being rug pulls, Gotbit has also faced scrutiny. In fact, Gotbit's founder, Alexey Andryunin, stated in an interview with Coindesk that the platform used market manipulation as a means of livelihood and described how it developed code to artificially inflate crypto trading volumes while avoiding detection. In that report, Andryunin claimed that Gotbit's market-making services could boost a token's "trading volume" to levels sufficient for listing on CoinMarketCap, even ranking between 300 and 500. However, Andryunin also admitted, "Gotbit's business is not registered in any jurisdiction and is not entirely ethical; doing what we do now on Nasdaq would constitute financial crime." Currently, Andryunin is charged with wire fraud, conspiracy to manipulate the market, wire fraud, and conspiracy to launder money.

法庭文件顯示，這些機構秘密向加密貨幣項目提供清洗交易服務，誇大交易量，製造交易活動的假象，吸引投資者以虛高的價格出售代幣。其中，Gotbit是深度涉足MEME領域的做市商，參與了BONK、ANALOS、DUKO、PENG、SOLAMA等MEME計畫。然而，由於多個合作項目進展緩慢，Gotbit 也面臨審查。事實上，Gotbit 的創辦人 Alexey Andryunin 在接受 Coindesk 採訪時表示，該平台利用市場操縱作為謀生手段，並描述如何開發代碼來人為誇大加密貨幣交易量，同時避免被發現。在那份報告中，Andryunin 聲稱，Gotbit 的做市服務可以將代幣的「交易量」提升到足以在CoinMarketCap 上上市的水平，甚至排名在300 到500 之間。的業務沒有在任何司法管轄區註冊”而且不完全符合道德；我們現在在納斯達克所做的事情將構成金融犯罪。”目前，Andryunin 被指控犯有電匯詐欺、共謀操縱市場、電匯詐欺和共謀洗錢等罪名。

The largest manipulator among them was Saitama, which once reached a market value of several billion dollars, with the project's leadership actively manipulating the market through various false public statements and secretly selling to gain tens of millions of dollars in profits. Saitama's market manipulation activities began in 2021 when the project created the illusion of large purchases and new holders by making small purchases of tokens through multiple crypto wallets, stimulating investor buying, and subsequently hired ZM Quant and Gotbit for wash trading on exchanges.

其中最大的操縱者是埼玉公司，其市值一度達到數十億美元，專案領導層透過各種虛假公開言論積極操縱市場，並暗中拋售，獲取數千萬美元的利潤。 Saitama的市場操縱活動始於2021年，當時該專案透過多個加密錢包小額購買代幣，製造大額購買和新持有者的假象，刺激投資者購買，隨後聘請ZM Quant和Gotbit在交易所進行洗盤交易。

ZM Quant claims to be a trading bot that can "create trading volume," providing market manipulation services for Saitama and NexFundAI. The lawsuit reveals that ZM Quant discussed these illegal services with clients through Telegram messages and video conferences, such as how to "possibly trade ten or twenty times" per minute to increase trading volume and raise prices, as well as how to use multiple trading wallets to avoid overly false trades.

ZM Quant 聲稱是一個可以「創造交易量」的交易機器人，為 Saitama 和 NexFundAI 提供市場操縱服務。訴訟顯示，ZM Quant透過Telegram訊息和視訊會議與客戶討論這些非法服務，例如如何每分鐘「可能交易十次或二十次」以增加交易量並提高價格，以及如何使用多個交易錢包以避免過度虛假交易。

CLS is also charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to manipulate the market and wire fraud. CLS allowed each client's cryptocurrency to conduct millions of dollars in false trades daily, enabling these tokens to bypass exchange listing fees and inflate sales.

CLS 也被指控電匯詐欺、串謀操縱市場和電匯詐欺。 CLS 允許每個客戶的加密貨幣每天進行數百萬美元的虛假交易，使這些代幣能夠繞過交易所上市費用並誇大銷售額。

The enforcement action against these crypto market makers was primarily driven by a sting operation from the FBI. Notably, the FBI created a token named NexFundAI on Ethereum and a crypto company called NexFundAI, using the identity of the company and the token to meet with market makers to discuss cooperation, including ZM Quant, CLS Global, and MyTrade, all of whom agreed to assist in manipulating the token.

針對這些加密貨幣做市商的執法行動主要是由聯邦調查局的誘捕行動所推動的。值得注意的是，FBI 在以太坊上創建了名為NexFundAI 的代幣和名為NexFundAI 的加密貨幣公司，利用公司和代幣的身份與做市商會面討論合作，其中包括ZM Quant、CLS Global 和MyTrade，他們都同意協助操縱令牌。

Although the token had been traded, the FBI also monitored it to reduce the risk of retail investors purchasing it. On-chain information shows that the token's trading function was shut down 21 days ago.

雖然該代幣已經被交易，但FBI也對其進行監控，以降低散戶投資者購買的風險。鏈上資訊顯示，該代幣的交易功能已於21天前關閉。

However, regarding the "sting token" issued by the FBI, Abstract Chain contributor @0xCygaar pointed out on X platform that the FBI allegedly violated the MIT License when issuing the NexFundAI token, which may constitute copyright infringement. The FBI directly copied several library files from OpenZeppelin in its smart contract but failed to attach the required license declaration in the code. According to the MIT License, all copies or significant portions of the software must include the license declaration.

不過，對於FBI發行的“Sting代幣”，Abstract Chain貢獻者@0xCygaar在X平台指出，FBI在發行NexFundAI代幣時涉嫌違反了MIT License，可能構成版權侵權。 FBI 在其智能合約中直接複製了 OpenZeppelin 的多個庫文件，但未能在程式碼中附加所需的許可證聲明。根據 MIT 許可證，軟體的所有副本或重要部分都必須包含許可證聲明。

As for this investigation, U.S. Acting Attorney Joshua Levy stated, "This investigation is the first to identify numerous fraudsters in the cryptocurrency industry. Wash trading has long been prohibited in financial markets, and cryptocurrency is no exception. These cases demonstrate the result of innovative technology meeting century-old scams—inflated sales. We will actively pursue fraudulent activities, including within the crypto industry."

對於這項調查，美國代理檢察官Joshua Levy 表示，「這項調查是首次在加密貨幣行業中查出眾多詐欺者。洗盤交易在金融市場上早已被禁止，加密貨幣也不例外。這些案例展示了創新的結果。

"Cryptocurrency will soon be regulated; it's just a matter of time. Regulation will help eliminate its gambling stigma," commented Ki Young Ju, founder of CryptoQuant, regarding this lawsuit event.

CryptoQuant 創辦人 Ki Young Ju 在談到這起訴訟事件時表示：“加密貨幣很快就會受到監管，這只是時間問題。監管將有助於消除其賭博的恥辱。”