So you all should know this already, but let us review. A couple of finance professors who specialize in detecting market manipulation in the real stock market published a study that concluded half the increase in bitcoin price during its run to $20,000 was due to artificial pumping by Bitfinex using tether. Various regulatory and criminal justice agencies appear to have taken it seriously. The Justice Department opened a broad criminal probe into Bitfinex, once the largest bitcoin exchange by volume, for price manipulation and fraud.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...minal-probe-is-said-to-focus-on-tie-to-tether
Bitfinex owns tether, a "full reserve" altcoin that was supposed to be backed 1:1 with US dollars. A widely held belief is that Bitfinex does not in fact possess three billion dollars to back the three billion coins they've printed and subsequently purchased bitcoins with. The auditing firm they hired quit back in January when the massive printing was ongoing, no other auditor would touch them with a ten foot pole, and the tiny Puerto Rican bank Bitfinex supposedly move their three billion dollars to has filed for bankruptcy. Keep in mind this never a legitimate bank, it had no real clients or business beyond holding a PR banking license. All of their funds came from crypto entities with Bitfinex being by far the largest client and as a result their fortunes were directly tied to Bitfinex/cryptocurrencies' fortunes.