加密貨幣領域已被多次與狂野的西部進行比較，雖然它已經日趨成熟，與傳統金融世界更加相似，但在去中心化金融（DeFi）領域，“狂野”的精神仍然存在，自由的交易活動經常存在導致拉高拋售計劃和洗售交易。

拉高拋售計劃通常由一個或一組參與者組成，他們通過虛假聲明、興奮和擔心錯過機會來操縱投資者，讓他們購買代幣，同時以更高的價格秘密拋售自己的股份。

據估計，迄今為止已推出超過 200 萬種加密貨幣，其中大部分已被放棄。

根據最近的 Chainaanalysis 研究，僅在以太坊網絡上，2023 年就推出了超過 370,000 個代幣，其中 168,600 個在去中心化交易所 (DEX) 上上市。

90,000 個以太坊代幣顯示市場操縱模式

根據該研究，在任何特定月份，“在下個月推出的所有代幣中，只有不到 1.4% 的 DEX 流動性超過 300 美元”，而 2023 年在以太坊上推出的代幣中，目前只有 5.7% 的代幣高于這一閾值。

此外，該公司發現，“大約 90,408 個代幣”在這些交易所的流動性不足 300 美元，而單個地址“在之前進行過五次或更多 DEX 購買的單筆交易中消除了超過 70% 的流動性”。

Chainaanalysis 指出，其方法并不一定意味著這 90,408 個代幣是拉高拋售計劃的對象。

相反，它展示了當局如何使用鏈上數據來發現可疑模式。

發行符合上述標準的代幣的參與者“在 2023 年總共獲得了約 2.416 億美元的利潤，這還不包括建立和發行利潤的其他成本。”

一些人推出了多種符合標準的代幣，其中一個已確定的錢包推出了 81 種不同的代幣，預計利潤為 83 萬美元。

Chainaanalysis 北美公共政策主管 Jason Somensatto 在接受 Cointelegraph 采訪時表示，采用加密貨幣市場監管框架可以幫助減少內幕交易，“通過澄清交易平臺應對這種風險需要遵循的規則，并通過識別具有執法權的市場監管者。”

索門薩托補充道：

“與 TradFi 中證券主要在單一交易所進行交易不同，加密資產跨多個平臺和去中心化金融協議進行交易，這意味著傳統上依賴于查看一個交易場所的數據是不夠的。”

他表示，監管機構“需要更好地了解加密貨幣不斷變化的市場結構，并改變他們考慮減輕內幕交易等風險的視角。”

Pavel Matveev, CEO of crypto payments service provider Wirex, told Cointelegraph that these patterns “typically occur when unethical team members involved in the scheduled deployment of a token are also its initial buyers.”

Matveev added that this is “particularly common for newly issued memecoins.” In equities markets, he added, insider trading is “more difficult because there is much more oversight,” and unethical trading is scrutinized by both exchanges and regulators, while funds are more easily recovered.

To Matveev, centralized and decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges could “at the very least, enhance their risk warnings and explicitly disclose the likelihood of insider trading to traders.” He added, however, that in the short-term, “pump-and-dump schemes favor exchanges, given the substantial exchange fees involved.”

A “blow to industry credibility”

A potential solution to the problem, according to Wirex’s CEO, could be implementing an “independent and/or transparent third-party detector.”

To Mark Taylor, global money laundering reporting officer and head of financial crime at cryptocurrency exchange Cex.io, holding bad actors accountable can be difficult in the cryptocurrency space.

Recent: Energy-efficient miners in US less likely to be impacted by Bitcoin halving

Taylor told Cointelegraph that this is “largely due to vague or underdeveloped legal language that regulators rely on in their pursuit of justice and industry protections.” Nevertheless, he added that these types of traders affect the credibility of the industry negatively.

“It’s crucial for leaders to understand that every instance of fraud or collusion is a blow to industry credibility. Participants who choose the digital economy to hold and transact value are often doing so to avoid the banking sector, which they view as an untrustworthy system.”

He added that when crypto “proves itself susceptible to the same shortcomings as traditional finance,” it risks alienating users “who appreciate the personal agency of blockchain networks.” This, he said, can happen to the point where users turn to seek refuge in banks again.

Taylor noted that to make a “more convincing argument for mass adoption,” the cryptocurrency community must “commit to setting itself apart by working to eradicate these practices.”

To Taylor, approving regulations like the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation is a promising step to promote ecosystem integrity by establishing rules and sanctions against manipulation and abuse. These measures, he said, could see the industry experience fewer instances of fraud.

Influencer pump projects that “bloom overnight”

Taylor said that while startups require an incubation period before selling shares, memecoin markets “can bloom overnight,” with projects often cropping up in response to trends or jokes within niche communities.

He said that some “insider traders act on tips by deploying precision-focused positions” while others place their buy orders ahead of major announcements, “which allows their holdings purchased at a pre-hype valuation to increase rapidly once the sale goes public.”

These schemes are often quickly spotted by on-chain monitoring services like Lookonchain, which found a trader who turned $90 worth of Solana’s (SOL) token into $2 million after buying a cryptocurrency just five minutes after it started trading in late 2023.

Starting with only 1.5 $SOL($92), this trader made $2M in 22 days, a gain of 21,715x!This trader spotted $SILLY 5 minutes after it opened trading and spent 1 $SOL($62) to buy 43.1M $SILLY.Then he sold 33.34M $SILLY for $528K, and currently has 9.76M $SILLY($1.5M) left,... pic.twitter.com/ByY1Tpupah

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) December 27, 2023

Taylor said that crypto influencers who encourage impulsive decision-making carry some of the blame for potential financial harm: “their insistence could suggest a conflict of interest and lead to financial harm.”

Many influencer accounts, he said, accept payments in exchange for project promotions on mentions on their channels, which ends up manufacturing hype for the project. He added that this can see regulators chase down content creators “while the real masterminds launder their pilfered wealth on the ecosystem’s outer rim.”

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Caitlin Barnett, director of regulations and compliance at Chainalysis, said that there have been cases in which celebrities and influencers “move global crypto markets with a single tweet or Instagram post.”

A number of celebrities have, as a result, been charged by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for illegally promoting cryptocurrencies and associated investment schemes. In October 2022, Kim Kardashian agreed to pay the SEC $1.26 million to settle such a case, while SEC Chair Gary Gensler warned celebrities against crypto promotions in 2023.

Dodging pump-and-dump schemes

Despite these enforcement actions, regulators have so far been unable to rein in cryptocurrency pump-and-dump schemes and insider trading, as evidenced by Chainlaysis’ study.

Cex.io’s Taylor told Cointelegraph that “many of the protections that exist in traditional finance to combat market abuse and manipulation could be applied to crypto with similar success.” Regulators, he said, are “stymied by a lack of legal precedent and hazy guidelines to define and enforce wrongdoing in the crypto space.”

Considering these issues, authorities often work backward from the victims in a process “which can quickly become muddied” given the “oversaturation of crypto social media.”

泰勒表示，恢復資金還取決于肇事者是否被逮捕和起訴，然后補充說，抑制不良行為者“削弱他們濫用行業內權力杠桿的能力，以更好地保護散戶參與者”可能是一種策略。

對于 Wirex 的 Matveev 來說，區塊鏈取證可以有效地追蹤被挪用的資金，而監管機構面臨的最大挑戰是成功建立一支“能夠按時設計高效程序的強大且合格的員工隊伍”。

泰勒告訴 Cointelegraph，保持安全需要保持一定程度的懷疑態度，以避免做出模糊的判斷。

他說：

“對于那些不知從何而來并能立即帶來收益的鮮為人知的代幣，我們應該始終抱有健康的懷疑態度。

這種策略可能會被用來制造炒作，更重要的是，在沒有適當評估的情況下，產生采取行動的緊迫性。”

最重要的是，鏈上偵查可以幫助確定網絡代幣的持有位置并揭示潛在的危險信號。

泰勒表示，如果少數錢包持有大部分加密貨幣供應，“考慮另一條前進道路可能是謹慎的做法”。

近期：比特幣減半對比特幣挖礦中心化意味著什么

歸根結底，這些計劃對加密貨幣市場具有破壞性，應該積極勸阻。

Chainaanalysis 研究指出，市場運營商和政府機構可以在區塊鏈上部署監控工具，而傳統市場固有的透明度是不可能的。

雖然可以采取很多措施來幫助防止這些騙局，但培養敏銳的心態，促進投資者進行自己的研究，并在追逐財富時對自己的資金保持謹慎也可能是有益的。

加密貨幣領域的進一步發展不僅取決于貝萊德和富達等主要機構的進入以及它們推出現貨比特幣交易所交易基金，還取決于探索 DeFi 前沿的投資者的安全。

熱點：DEFI 亞伯 亞伯拉罕 行業