MEXC Cracks Down on Market Manipulation, Freezes 1,500 Accounts

Highlights:

• MEXC froze over 1,500 accounts involved in large-scale market manipulation.
• Suspicious trading activity surged by 60% from January to February.
• MEXC introduced a new monitoring system to combat market manipulation.

Leading cryptocurrency exchange MEXC has made a considerable effort to restrict market manipulation. The platform detected over 1,500 accounts involved in coordinated market manipulation schemes. It was discovered that those accounts were violating practices that could pose risks for the exchange and the broader infrastructure of the cryptocurrency market.

Crypto exchange MEXC freezes 1.5k+ accounts tied to multi-million market manipulation

Crypto exchange MEXC has frozen 1,500+ accounts linked to a multi-million-dollar market manipulation scheme. The platform identified suspicious trading activity involving pump-and-dump tactics pic.twitter.com/5zg7vQOxDr

— CoinsCapture (@CoinsCapture) March 26, 2025

Suspicious Activity and Coordinated Manipulation

As highlighted in the blog post, there were two main groups who engaged in these activities. One sub-group worked in Vietnam, where it operated 168 accounts. The other was the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), comprising 1,500 accounts. These groups involved in several forms of manipulative trading practices, such as self-trading, spoofing, layering, and front running.

Self-trading means that a single person buys and sells the asset, which gives an appearance of illusional volume. Peeking entails placing and canceling huge orders aimed at deceiving other traders into the high demand for a particular token. Layering involves creating many large buy or sell orders and then canceling them to manipulate different token values within the market.

MEXC’s internal analytics showed that some of them reached a daily trading volume of more than $20 million. This scale of trading raised concern on the potential negative impacts it may have on the market if left out of control. The data showed a 60% increase in this form of manipulation between January and February of 2025, indicating its growth sophistication.

Introduction of Enhanced Monitoring and Suspended Accounts

In order to mitigate any further loss, several measures were taken by MEXC. The system reversed fraudulent trades and suspended the accounts involved in the fraud. Authorities initiated a monitoring system to track suspicious activity. Accounts identified as potentially manipulative will require 30 days of scrutiny.

These accounts are observed for suspicious intent or collusion during this surveillance period. The account is blocked, and a thorough investigation takes place if the suspicious activities persist. MEXC stated that user funds are safe, with over $463 million being used towards the company’s insurance fund. This fund is to cover the risks of abnormal liquidation.

Growing Concern Over Institutional-Grade Manipulation

This incident has sparked concern over institutional-level participation in the manipulation of the crypto market. The groups identified by MEXC were employing algorithmic trading and institutional-level liquidity access to the features belonging to the higher-frequency trading firms. These advanced strategies have helped in manipulating the market on a large scale.

According to MEXC, this eruption of retail-level trading to quasi-institutional manipulation poses a serious risk to the market’s integrity. The increasing number of such groups threatens the stability of the market in general. As a result, MEXC has called upon exchanges and regulators to increase cooperation in tackling such threats.

MEXC has stressed the importance of cooperation with the global market to minimize instances of manipulation. It intends to share the information and knowledge with other international authorities in an effort to increase oversight and set industry standards for fair trading practices.