Coinbase Expected to Pay $ 6.5 Million Fine Following Market Manipulation Allegations
EXPLICA.CO, 20 March 2021
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued on Friday (19) a request to file and resolve charges against Coinbase, the San Francisco, California-based exchange, for “reckless, false, misleading or inaccurate reports, as well as negotiations for employee laundering in the GDAX (current Coinbase Pro) of the Coinbase platform. ”The order requires the broker to pay a civil penalty of US $ 6.5 million (R $ 35.69 million) and stop any other violation of the Commodity Exchange Act or CFTC regulations, as charged.
“Reporting false, misleading or inaccurate transaction information undermines the integrity of digital asset pricing,” said Chief Inspector Vincent McGonagle. “This enforcement action sends the message that the Commission will act to safeguard the integrity and transparency of such information.”
Understand the case:
According to the prosecution, between January 2015 and September 2018, Coinbase “recklessly delivered false, misleading or inaccurate reports on transactions in digital assets, including Bitcoin, on the GDAX e-commerce platform that it operated.” During these 3 years, Coinbase operated two trading bots, Hedger and Replicator, which generated orders that sometimes coincided with each other. The GDAX trading rules specifically disclosed that Coinbase operated on GDAX, but did not disclose that Coinbase operated more than one trading program and was effectively generating volume across multiple accounts.
