The market manipulation report recently released by Solidus Labs, a leading provider of crypto-native trade surveillance and risk monitoring, has exposed wash trading activity worth at least $2 billion on Ethereum-based decentralized exchanges (DEXs) since 2020. Solidus Labs conducted an analysis of about 30,000 DEX liquidity pools and found that 67% of them were manipulated through wash trading. Wash trading involves traders executing transparent or concealed self-trades to artificially influence the prices or volumes of crypto tokens. In the manipulated pools, wash trading accounted for 16% of the total trading volume.
The report, part of Solidus Labs’ Crypto Market Manipulation Report Series, provides comprehensive data and specific examples of the primary methods used by fraudsters for wash trading. The dispersion of liquidity across various DEXs within the DeFi space creates smaller markets that are more vulnerable to price and volume manipulation.
The paper also highlights a specific instance where Solidus Labs identified a network of connected wallets that engaged in wash trading a meme token called “SHIBAFARM.” This manipulation tactic was used to deceive speculators, manipulate the token’s price, and ultimately generate a profit exceeding $2 million. Such manipulative practices pose a threat to the healthy growth of the crypto and DeFi sectors and need to be addressed.
Asaf Meir, the Founder and Chief Executive of Solidus Labs, emphasized the significance of market manipulation as a challenge within the crypto industry, especially in an era of increased regulatory scrutiny and growing institutional adoption. He stated that the wash trading activity uncovered by Solidus Labs is a clear indication of market manipulation, and steps must be taken to prevent it for the flourishing of crypto and DeFi.
Addressing the issue of on-chain wash trading is crucial for the blockchain and DeFi space. While traditional markets have effective trade surveillance and self-trade prevention mechanisms in place, the decentralized nature of exchanges raises regulatory questions about responsibility for detecting and preventing on-chain wash trading.
Solidus Labs is playing a pivotal role in mitigating risks within DeFi by developing solutions such as Token Sniffer, DEX-Based Insider Trading, and DEX-based A-A Wash Trading Detection. These solutions aim to detect and prevent wash trading activities on DEXs, providing a safer trading environment.
In a recent partnership, EDX Markets, a crypto exchange supported by major Wall Street entities including Citadel, Fidelity, and Schwab, collaborated with Solidus Labs to enhance transaction monitoring on the EDX platform. This collaboration offers customers comprehensive transactional risk management solutions that adhere to institutional best practices and uphold the highest compliance standards in the cryptocurrency space.
Overall, the Solidus Labs market manipulation report sheds light on the prevalence of wash trading activity on DEXs and highlights the need for robust measures to combat it. The crypto industry must address this issue to ensure the integrity and healthy growth of the market.
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About the author - J-S Tremblay
I've been involved in the cryptocurrency world since 2016 and trading since 2019. I started Moon and Lambo in 2021. I'm passionate about crypto and love to share my knowledge. I hate bankers and I hope that cryptocurrency will change the financial world for the better. View full profile...
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