4 hours Ago By Victoria d'Este
To improve your local-language experience, sometimes we employ an auto-translation plugin. Please note auto-translation may not be accurate, so read article for precise information. In Brief Fewer than 500 people manipulated crypto markets to fake $3.
2 trillion in trades and pocket $250 million in profits, exposing deep-rooted fraud, pump-and-dump schemes, and major exchange vulnerabilities in the crypto world. A recent study exposes massive market manipulation in crypto, uncovering $3.2 trillion in artificial trades and $250 million in profits.
A small group of insiders coordinating through Telegram has been driving fake volume, raising serious concerns about transparency and fair trading in digital assets. A recent study highlights the alarming scale of market manipulation in cryptocurrency, revealing that fewer than and $250 million in annual profits. Researchers at University College London developed a tool, Perseus, to track coordinated pump-and-dump schemes—where scammers artificially inflate crypto prices before selling off their holdings, leaving unsuspecting investors with losses.
Telegram, a widely used encrypted messaging app, has become the primary coordination hub for these schemes. By analyzing nearly 750,000 messages, Perseus identified more than 400 key orchestrators, referred to as “masterminds,” who distribute misleading information to manipulate demand. These masterminds rely on followers to amplify the hype, spreading messages that lure investors into buying worthless tokens.
According to lead researcher Honglin Fu, these schemes operate through a structured hierarchy. The masterminds initiate the manipulation, while their accomplices ensure the fraudulent messaging reaches a broader audience. This network-driven approach makes crypto market manipulation both widespread and difficult to detect.
As these bad actors continue to exploit unregulated spaces, concerns about transparency and fair trading in digital assets are intensifying. The Squid Game token scam stands as one of the most notorious pump-and-dump schemes in crypto history. Launched by anonymous developers, the token promised players the chance to use it as an entry fee for virtual games modeled after the hit Netflix show.
Winners would receive real-money rewards—except the games never existed. The real catch? An “anti-dumping mechanism” that locked buyers into the token, requiring them to earn “marbles” to sell—marbles that could only be won by playing games that hadn’t even launched. With no way to sell, the price skyrocketed from $0.
02 on Oct. 26 to a staggering $2,861 by Nov. 1.
Then, in seconds, it crashed to nearly zero. The developers, who had secretly exempted themselves from the selling restrictions, cashed out, pocketing $12 million while investors were left with worthless tokens. The Squid Game rug pull was a brutal reminder that crypto scams can be as deceptive as penny stock frauds.
OneCoin remains the largest cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme in history, defrauding investors of $4 billion under the guise of a legitimate crypto business. Founder Ruja Ignatova marketed OneCoin as the “Bitcoin killer,” promising massive returns while secretly operating a classic pyramid scheme. Ignatova vanished in October 2017 and is now on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List—one of only 11 women ever to appear.
If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in prison. Court records reveal she knowingly misled investors, calling them “dumb” while selling educational courses instead of a real cryptocurrency. OneCoin was never actively traded, nor did it have a blockchain—its transactions were merely stored on an SQL server.
After her disappearance, her brother, Konstantin Ignatov, took control but was arrested in 2019. He later pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering, marking a dramatic downfall for one of the most infamous scams in crypto history. The February 21, 2025, Bybit hack marked the largest cryptocurrency theft in history.
Hackers exploited a private key leak in the exchange’s hot wallet system, stealing 400,000 ETH—worth $1.4 billion—in minutes. Bybit’s CEO swiftly acknowledged the breach and launched a bounty program to recover the stolen funds.
Days later, the FBI North Korean hackers with orchestrating the heist. Blockchain firm Elliptic called it the largest theft of any kind ever recorded. With over $2 billion stolen in 2024 alone, concerns over crypto security continue to mount as hackers exploit vulnerabilities in digital asset exchanges.
In January 2018, hackers compromised Coincheck, executing the largest cryptocurrency theft up to that point, by . The exchange halted all trading, and while it froze accounts and transactions, there was no undoing the losses. A governmental investigation concluded that hackers had exploited phishing schemes to gain access to Coincheck’s hot wallets, using malware to move money out of the exchange.
To begin with, the exchange acknowledged that it may have difficulties refunding impacted users. In 2021, the authorities disclosed that numerous offenders were from a high-income bracket. The hack demonstrated the security risks central banks face, which raises a systemic risk within a fast-growing crypto industry.
The increasing sophistication of crypto hacks indicates a pressing need for better security. Attackers have become very well organized, with funding and technical acumen. Even the most trusted exchanges are not safe from thieves.
Attackers can claim your money through phishing, social engineering or from inside the corporation. The results are devastating—billions of dollars lost, trust in crypto eroded, and users exposed to bad actors. The reaction, though, is changing.
In March 2025, quickly deplatforming Garantex after Bybit was hacked demonstrated how collaboration between exchanges, blockchain intelligence companies, and law enforcement could generate quick decisive results. Going forward, crypto security needs to shift away from reactive investigations towards proactive defenses such as predictive intelligence, real-time monitoring, and red-team assessments. Exchanges will need to make large investments in analytics and risk mitigation, and regulators will need to keep pace with the changing times without stifling the progress of innovation.
Crystal Intelligence is no longer just a compliance tool; it is a necessity to survive in an environment where security threats are skyrocketing. In line with the , please note that the information provided on this page is not intended to be and should not be interpreted as legal, tax, investment, financial, or any other form of advice. It is important to only invest what you can afford to lose and to seek independent financial advice if you have any doubts.
For further information, we suggest referring to the terms and conditions as well as the help and support pages provided by the issuer or advertiser. MetaversePost is committed to accurate, unbiased reporting, but market conditions are subject to change without notice. Victoria is a writer on a variety of technology topics including Web3.
0, AI and cryptocurrencies. Her extensive experience allows her to write insightful articles for the wider audience. Victoria is a writer on a variety of technology topics including Web3.
0, AI and cryptocurrencies. Her extensive experience allows her to write insightful articles for the wider audience..
