After allegations of improper reporting of the exchange volume and “self-trading” were settled with the CFTC yesterday, reports emerged that exchange giant Coinbase was planning to push back its share list to next month. The company is expected to go public in March in the past.
Yesterday, March 19, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced a settlement with Coinbase over allegations that the company reported incorrect data on Bitcoin, and that an employee “self-traded” to create the illusion of volume and demand for Litecoin .
“The reporting of false, misleading or inaccurate transaction information undermines the integrity of digital asset pricing,” said Acting Acting Director Vincent McGonagle. “This enforcement action sends the message that the Commission will take action to protect the integrity and transparency of such information.”
According to the CFTC order, the company operated two automated trading programs, Hedger and Replicator, between January 2015 and September 2018. While the exchange disclosed the use of a trading program, they did not disclose that they use two that regularly match the transactions.
As a result, the Coinbase API has provided fraudulent trading data to entities such as the CME Bitcoin Real Time Index and CoinMarketCap, as well as the NYSE Bitcoin Index, via Coinbase ‘direct shipping’.
The CFTC notes that this falsified data ‘potentially led to an alleged volume and liquidity level of digital assets, including Bitcoin, which was false, misleading or inaccurate.’
In addition, the announcement notes that in 2016, an employee intentionally placed matching LTC / BTC transactions over a six-week period to create the illusion of liquidity and the demand for LTC. The CFTC found Coinbase to be “liable” for these fraudulent trades.
The total fine for these costs is $ 6.5 million.
Direct offer delayed
Following the settlement with the CFTC, a report from Bloomberg stated last night that the stock exchange had delayed their direct share list until next month.
Referring to “people familiar with the matter”, Bloomberg said plans for a share offering in March “went down” on US stock exchanges, and no further details were provided.
Earlier this month, Bloomberg quoted anonymous sources as reporting that Justin Sun had won the nearly $ 70 million Christie’s auction for a Beeple NFT, which later turned out to be false, as well as that Binance was being investigated by the CFTC for being U.S. residents. allowed to post. illegal industries. Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance, vehemently denied the characterization of the report.