Wash Trading In CoinMarketCap Reached A New High

Tracking blockchain movements and crypto asset prices have always been followed with accusations about trading volumes manipulations. One of the largest crypto tracking websites to date, Coinmarketcap, followed under criticism yet again for reportedly altering Litecoin trading volumes.

The crypto tracking website data shows that 93% of the total amount of Litecoin in circulation was changing hands yesterday, 2nd of December 2019. According to crypto experts, the vast increase in trading volumes is a classical case of the so-called “Wash trading.”

Litecoin is not the only cryptocurrency, suffering from wash trading. Tether’s daily trading volumes exploded, reaching more than five times its market capitalization. Other affected cryptocurrencies include Bitcoin Cash, EOS, and many others.

Crypto expert and analyst Mati Greenspan noticed the strange market behavior, adding that 30% of Bitcoin Cash, two-thirds of all EOS, and close to 93% of Litecoin appear to be traded in just 24 hours.

Wash trading is usually done by crypto exchanges to boost the trading volumes they report to data tracking services. The increased numbers imply for improved reputation.

CoinMarketCap, on the other hand, released a new “liquidity” metric in November, with the sole purpose of fighting wash trading and data manipulation from crypto exchanges. The parameter, however, didn’t seem to be effective, as the wash trading usually happens on smaller exchanges, with exchange operators charging a fee for increasing the trading volumes of a given cryptocurrency.