MyTrade founder fined $10,000 after pleading guilty to crypto wash trading and market manipulation
first published 2026-08-06T16:23:06Z
MyTrade founder and operator Liu Zhou was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit market manipulation and wire fraud. Prosecutors said MyTrade used bots to generate millions of dollars in daily wash trades for about 60 cryptocurrencies through its Volume Support service. The scheme was exposed by an FBI undercover operation involving the NexFundAI token, and MyTrade agreed to stop the service, deactivate the bots, and acknowledge the activity was illegal.
AI Analysis
The article reports a guilty plea, a fine, and an admitted wash-trading scheme affecting about 60 cryptocurrencies, with bots generating millions in daily fake volume. This is concrete enforcement and market-manipulation news that can matter to short-term traders.
Expected Investor Sentiment: Bearish
Potential Market Impact: Significant
