https://www.cnet.com/news/us-investigating-bitcoin-price-manipulation-as-cryptocurrency-runs-wild/

The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into the possibility that the prices of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are being manipulated by traders, according to Bloomberg.

The probe is centered around spoofing, an illegal practice in which an investor floods the market with fake orders to distort the price of an asset. It's reportedly being conducted in tandem with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the financial regulator which oversees derivatives tied to bitcoin.