Crypto exec admits trying to wash trade FBI’s fake NexFundAI token
Crypto exec admits trying to wash trade FBI’s fake NexFundAI token The founder of MyTrade, a cryptocurrency firm that was caught wash trading by the FBI, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to manipulating crypto markets for his client firms. Liu Zhou was arrested in the wake of the FBI’s “Operation Token Mirrors,” a sting that used an FBI-created token called NexFundAI to out various companies engaging in wash trading. The FBI discovered 60 cryptocurrencies involved in the scheme and seized $25 million worth of crypto assets. Zhou and MyTrade offered a service called Volume Support that used bots to repeatedly buy and sell any desired token, artificially inflating their volume. However, the scheme came crashing down when FBI agents posing as NexFundAI advisors approached the company with a view to becoming one of its clients. At this point, the 39-year-old revealed that his firm “does self-trades — a buy and a sell in the same second,” and executes “ pump...