Earlier, on May 24, Bloomberg reported that a criminal probe into Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) price manipulation by crypto traders had been opened by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in conjunction with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
That information was indirectly confirmed in the recent Wall Street Journal report, although it was made clear that the DOJ was studying potential price manipulation in a separate case.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the probe followed the launch of BTC futures by CME Group, a major derivatives marketplace, in December 2017.
CME is regulated by the CFTC, a federal agency dealing with futures and options markets in the U.S.
As mentioned above, last month the DOJ opened a similar — but separate — investigation into BTC and ETH price manipulation.
According to anonymous sources cited by The Wall Street Journal, The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is coordinating with the U. S. Justice Department in conducting investigations into price manipulation in the spot BTC markets.
