Ongoing Cryptocurrency Manipulation Highly Probable, Analyst Says

A cryptocurrency analyst has stated that the rise and fall of Bitcoin may be manipulated by unknown entities, according to The Merkle. As of this writing, Bitcoin is barely breathing above $7,130, down by another $100 from yesterday’s value. The cryptocurrency has now lost more than $150 billion since its height in May.

In a recent announcement, the U.S. Justice Department said it will conduct an investigation into a possible manipulation of digital currency value and other illegal activities. Forbes contributor and cryptocurrency analyst Peter Tchir says he wouldn’t be surprised if the investigation finds that someone is influencing the market to tip it in their favor. He backed this claim by citing several factors.

“There are allegedly several very large holders of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies,” he explains. “The concentration of wealth gives them the incentive to push prices higher. In the stock market, anyone holding a large proportion of the outstanding security is subject to additional rules and scrutiny, but no such protections exist for cryptocurrency.”

He goes on to say that those promoting cryptocurrencies have agenda involving price spike for a certain digital cash. “Whether this falls under the definition of manipulation that is being investigated, assume it occurs and assumes it distorts price,” the analyst says.

Indeed, claims were made recently by venture capitalist and Wall Street analyst Spencer Bogart, saying that Bitcoin will end the year with a $10,000 value at the very least. Tom Lee, a Fundstrat strategist and crypto investor, said that it can even reach $25,000 if institutional investors enter the equation. But an even more bullish claim has been made by another crypto investor, Tim Draper, predicting that Bitcoin can reach a staggering $250,000 value in 2022.

Another factor that Tchir points out is that traders have either heard or seen for themselves market manipulation in other sectors like LIBOR or FX. He says that miners control a disturbing amount of power in the cryptocurrency sphere and have a lot of incentives to see price mark surge. This is especially true, he adds, if “mining activity is at all linked to price action.”

Globalcoinreport said in a recent report that price manipulation in the BTC sphere is highly likely. It cited that on Dec. 17, 2017, Bitcoin was valued around $20,000. This price was just hours before the BTC futures started rolling out, which was helmed by the CME Group. At first, crypto enthusiasts saw this as a promising development since it’s a sign that crypto is starting to draw in mainstream investors.

Others, however, weren’t too keen that Wall Street was joining the crypto realm. Some even cautioned that these giant investment firms will likely find a hole to exploit in order to bring down BTC’s value and its other crypto cousins. True to the warning, BTC’s value, as well as the entire industry’s capitalization, took a dive when Bitcoin futures started being offered.

The lack of regulation in the cryptocurrency market definitely makes this possible. Globalcoinreport added that if big investors are able to manipulate Wall Street with all the restricting legislation surrounding it, influencing the crypto industry will be easy child’s play for them.