One Person May Have Driven Bitcoin’s 2013 Jump to $1,000
New research suggests that bots were used to manipulate the price of Bitcoin.
The analysis: A Journal of Monetary Economics paper examines how two bots, Markus and Willy, performed suspicious trades on the Mt. Gox Bitcoin exchange in 2013. The bots appeared to be making regular trades, but didn’t actually own any of the bitcoins they were using to make them.
The findings: The authors write that “trading volume on all exchanges increased greatly on days with suspicious activity.” Not only that, the suspicious trades were “highly correlated with the rise in the price of Bitcoin ... from around $150 to more than $1,000 in two months.”
Why it matters: The researchers warn that newer cryptocurrencies may be open to similar kinds of price manipulation. That’s worrying, given the current hype that’s causing banks and nation-states to take notice of cryptocurrencies.
Keep Reading
Most Popular
How scientists traced a mysterious covid case back to six toilets
When wastewater surveillance turns into a hunt for a single infected individual, the ethics get tricky.
The problem with plug-in hybrids? Their drivers.
Plug-in hybrids are often sold as a transition to EVs, but new data from Europe shows we’re still underestimating the emissions they produce.
Sam Altman says helpful agents are poised to become AI’s killer function
Open AI’s CEO says we won’t need new hardware or lots more training data to get there.
Stay connected
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.