On Wednesday, a judge unsealed a wide-ranging criminal case brought by the Department of Justice against eighteen individuals and companies accused of manipulating crypto markets and artificially boosting tokens. According to the complaint, the operation targeted one crypto firm with a multi-billion-dollar market value, and relied on a ruse involving a new cryptocurrency spun up by the FBI.
The indictment is the first criminal prosecution by the DOJ against financial services firms for crypto market manipulation, after previously charging an individual, Avraham Eisenberg, who was convicted in April for rigging a platform called Mango Markets.
