The founder of crypto financial services firm MyTrade has pleaded guilty to market manipulation and conspiracy to commit fraud

According to an official announcement from the Department of Justice, Liu Zhou, the founder of crypto financial services firm "MyTrade", pleaded guilty to market manipulation and conspiracy to commit fraud. U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley plans to sentence him on February 27, 2025. MyTrade provides financial services to cryptocurrency customers through its "MyTrade MM" website and online application, the Justice Department said. These services include shuffling trades on customer cryptocurrencies on multiple cryptocurrency exchanges. MyTrade MM was asked to stop providing "volume support" services and permanently deactivate its shuffle trading robots, which make millions of dollars worth of shuffle trades on about 60 different cryptocurrencies every day. MyTradeMM was also required to add the following disclaimer to its website: "Volume support is a wash trade and is illegal under US law."