Court Fines Mytrade Founder $10K for Role in Market Manipulation Scheme

A federal court in Boston has fined Liu Zhou, the founder of cryptocurrency financial services firm Mytrade, $10,000 for his role in a market manipulation scheme.

The penalty stems from allegations that Mytrade's platform, Mytrade MM, offered cryptocurrency projects 'volume support services' to artificially inflate trading volumes and market activity through wash trading executed with automated bots.

Prosecutors argued that such practices violate anti-fraud provisions under U.S. securities laws, as they distort the true supply and demand for digital assets.

The case is part of a broader regulatory crackdown on manipulative practices in the digital asset industry and serves as a reminder to investors to exercise caution when evaluating trading volume and liquidity metrics.