https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/24/us-opens-criminal-probe-into-bitcoin-price-manipulation-bloomberg.html

The U.S. Department of Justice opened a criminal probe into the possibility that traders are manipulating the price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, according to a report from Bloomberg.

The investigation surrounds the practice of spoofing — where an investor places orders that are intended to manipulate the price of an instrument — and flooding the market with fake orders, the report said Thursday, citing four unnamed people familiar with the probe.