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Strategies for pumping traded volume appear to range from raw creativity to laziness, according to the latest research about a topic which appears to be a recurring hurdle on the path for a Bitcoin ETF approval.

Differences between accounted and reported volumes amounted to 66.5%, according to research results. Other than quantitative analysis, there were also several criterions in place which looked at the distribution and solidity of the data presented by exchanges, an interesting difference from other studies which shed some relevant findings.

Exchanges failing Alameda´s test incurred into several types of fraudulent strategies. The most striking one were exchanges which were copying other exchanges´ trading history as their own. More elaborate attempts at pumping traded volume included timing the introduction of fake trading to hide it among a large number of real trades.

Up to 6 different criterions were performed on the tope exchanges listed on Coinmarketcap. Some of the firms which turned out to have engaged in more irregularities are CoinBene, BitForex, Bitrue, CoinEx, Bit-Z, EXX, and IDAX. On the other side of the table, well known players such as BitMEX, bitFlyer, Binance, Bitfinex, Kraken or Bittrex fulfilled with ease the most elemental requests of Alameda´s test.

Alameda Research is a digital assets manager which runs a small team with experts coming from different corners of the tech and finance sectors. The report was conducted for crypto derivatives exchange FTX.