South Korea's Board of Supervisors: Market manipulation using APIs to control cryptocurrency trading volumes is on the rise; a special investigation will be launched.

Foresight News , citing South Korea's Maeil Business Newspaper, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) of South Korea has publicly disclosed typical unfair trading practices in the cryptocurrency market involving automated order placement via APIs to manipulate prices, and announced that it will swiftly launch special investigations into accounts found to be placing excessive and abnormal orders. The FSS stated that API trading currently accounts for more than 30% of the total trading volume in the South Korean cryptocurrency market. FSS disclosed four main manipulation methods: First, repeatedly using the API to make small market trades to create a false impression of high trading activity, while manually placing high-priced limit buy orders to drive up prices, then selling to profit after retail investors follow suit; second, placing sell orders higher than the holding price in advance, then continuously placing high-priced limit buy orders through the API to drive the price to the target price before cashing out; third, repeatedly placing and canceling orders to create false buying pressure; and fourth, using multiple accounts to distort the market. FSS reminds investors that the period around the price reset time of various exchanges is often a concentrated period of high-frequency API trading, and investors should be vigilant about sharp price increases during this period; it also warns that once the API key is leaked, the holder may be unknowingly identified as an accomplice to money laundering and other illegal activities.