The US Justice Department has reportedly been working on an investigation against the possible market manipulation of cryptocurrency prices caused by traders reported Bloomberg.

According to anonymous sources that are familiar with the matter, the investigation is launched by the Department of Justice but the market regulator, Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), is also working alongside on the matter. The inspection is focusing on spoofing or market manipulation, where traders impose fake orders to deceive the market participants into action, whether its buying or selling. Besides spoofing, wash trading is also a subject of investigation. Wash trading is when traders sell and buy with themselves in order to fake market activity to make more people join the market and participate in trades.

According to the sources, the investigation is in its initial stages as currently prosecutors are looking into markets where BTC and ETH are traded.

Neither the Justice Department, nor the CTCT made any comment so far. The phenomenon exists in almost every trade sector where value is being traded. Active crypto traders must have heard about ‘Spoofy’, which is reportedly a group of traders that placed $1 million orders without executing them during last year. Truth or imagination, but the inspection might hit a few exchanges soon.