One of the biggest issues plaguing the crypto industry has to do with the manipulation of crypto markets, and the coins that are traded on them.

Cryptocurrencies are easily manipulated due to their secret nature, and traders could be duped into engaging with a crypto asset based on false information.

The results of a recent investigation into the manipulation of crypto statistics and sentiments have been published by a Reddit user.

According to the results published by the user, there are 50 accounts, dubbed the Dream Network, which are being employed to manipulate users as has been seen on major social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook.

These methods employed to manipulate sentiment and statistics have been exposed a few times and videos explaining the phenomenon have been made.

The Reddit user who exposed the Dream network focused on two methods, which are vote manipulation and astroturfing.

The user said that these methods have been used to promote materials on various discussion threads on the website such as r/CryptoMarkets and r/CryptoCurrency.

Manipulating the conversation on social media

The idea behind these methods of sentiment manipulation is that if more people show support for a crypto asset, it could influence other traders to engage with the particular cryptocurrency.

Users who engage in online cryptocurrency trading could buy an asset based on the thought that it has considerable support in the crypto community.

Astroturfing involves the creation of fake user accounts which post messages and chime in on a conversation.

These accounts purport to offer support to a project at a grassroots level, and thus creating the illusion that there is significant interest in it among members of the crypto community.

Members of the Dream Network have been flagged for participating in conversations about crypto projects in a bid to convince other Reddit users that an organic conversation is happening on the platform.

The Reddit user said that companies such as Bitmax, Bora, Dreamr, Contentos, Moozicore, and Ultra token may have used the services of the Dream Network’s shilling services. If these allegations are true, it places doubt on the validity of the activity on some of the best cryptocurrency exchanges.

Sites such as Reddit use voting systems for their users to rank a project up or down. The votes affect public perception about whether a project is viewed as good, or as bad, by other Reddit users.

The Dream Network is accused of using multiple accounts to cast votes in favor of the projects they will be promoting. This vote manipulation places the projects being promoted in a positive light and creates the false impression that many users have voted in favor of the particular project.

Social media companies and position manipulation

Social media companies are making efforts to fight against sentiment manipulation on their sites. Not only is this manipulation done to influence crypto markets, but it has also been argued that groups such as the Dream Network have been used to manipulate election sentiments.

Due to the serious nature of this matter, social media companies have made it a priority to fight against any possible manipulation and the accounts behind it.