{"id":107429,"date":"2019-06-08T18:14:20","date_gmt":"2019-06-09T01:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/?p=107429"},"modified":"2026-05-02T08:22:32","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T07:22:32","slug":"unlawful-practices-hit-top-cryptocurrency-exchanges-including-binance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/unlawful-practices-hit-top-cryptocurrency-exchanges-including-binance\/","title":{"rendered":"BTI Report: Evidence of wash trading on Binance"},"content":{"rendered":"

The most recent market surveillance report<\/a> from the Blockchain Transparency Institute<\/a> claims that Binance<\/a>, the world\u2019s biggest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, shows signs of wash trading.<\/p>\n

Cryptocurrency trading volume is fabricated<\/h2>\n

The Blockchain Transparency Institute (BTI) is a group of blockchain data researches who aim to bring more transparency to the cryptocurrency market. The Institute spent the last four months working on a new algorithm that is designed to identify individual accounts on cryptocurrency exchanges that are involved in wash trading, a process where traders buy and sell securities for the express purpose of feeding misleading information to the market.<\/p>\n

After several months of research, BTI discovered over 10 percent of trading on Binance is wash trading. Most of the wash trading was observed on 30 trading pairs on the exchange, with some pairs showing signs of up to 75 percent wash trading volume. Nonetheless, the top volume pairs<\/a> on the platform, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum<\/a>, were said to have 85 to 95 percent legitimate volume.<\/p>\n

Binance is no longer considered a \u201cverified exchange\u201d despite being relatively clean when compared to other platforms. According to the Blockchain Transparency Institute:<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout 88 to 92 percent of daily trading volume is fabricated depending on the day. Bitcoin<\/a>\u2019s daily trading volume is about 92 percent fabricated. [Among] the top 40 largest exchanges with actual volume, Bitcoin\u2019s volume is about 65 percent fabricated. Almost all of this fabricated volume comes from OKEx<\/a>, Bibox<\/a>, HitBTC<\/a>, and Huobi<\/a>.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A variety of strategies have been used to deceive investors, including buying followers and likes on social media platforms, fake order books, mirror wash trading with other exchanges, and the implementation of bots that prevent the price of those cryptocurrencies from being affected while the process takes place. As a result, the fraudulent activity has become an industry with professional individuals offering their services on the black market.<\/p>\n

In a blog post<\/a>, Livio Weng, CEO of Huobi Global, commented:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe issue of fake trading volumes is a real one in the industry and people have a right to know that the numbers provided by exchanges are legitimate. We think there should be no exceptions and we see something like DATA as a natural next step as our industry grows in both maturity and mainstream acceptance.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Alon Karniel, COO of Algoz, explained in a recent interview<\/a> that cryptocurrency exchanges benefit the most from this type of deceitful activity since it makes them more appealing to upcoming startups which are willing to pay hefty listing fees. Indeed, BTI revealed that the listing costs from just the wash trading exchanges totaled over 150 BTC.<\/p>\n

\"SEC<\/a>
Related:\u00a0SEC chairman suggests cryptocurrency markets are easily manipulated, unlike the stock market<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Deceptive practices in the cryptocurrency market are likely to continue as many of the players involved profit from them. Even though they raise questions about the industry as a whole, Travis Kling<\/a>, CIO of Ikigai Asset Management, believes that some exchanges may rely on these types of practices to keep their businesses afloat.<\/p>\n

This represents a setback for the adoption of technology in the United States, especially from a regulatory standpoint. U.S. Securities Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton<\/a> commented in a recent interview with CNBC<\/a> that there is still a lot of work to be done for regulators and lawmakers to create the framework and guidelines needed in the cryptocurrency markets.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have sophisticated rules and surveillance to ensure that people are not manipulating the stock market. Those cryptocurrency markets by and large do not have that. And we\u2019re working hard to see if we can get there. But I\u2019m not just going to flip a switch and say \u2018this is just like stocks and bonds.\u2019\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

SEC Chairman Jay Clayton on #Crypto<\/a>:<\/p>\n

"We have sophisticated rules & surveillance to ensure that people are not manipulating the stock market. Those cryptocurrency markets by and large do not have that." pic.twitter.com\/1iGryAiSob<\/a><\/p>\n

— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) June 6, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n