CLS Global, a UAE-based crypto financial services firm, has admitted to fraudulent market manipulation charges involving wash trading on Uniswap. The company is accused of misleading investors by generating fake trading volumes through automated self-dealing. A $428,059 penalty, including a fine and seizure of crypto assets, has been imposed on the firm, alongside a ban from US crypto markets.

The indictment, revealed by the Boston US Attorney’s Office, includes charges of conspiracy to commit market manipulation and wire fraud. The charges were discovered during an FBI undercover operation targeting crypto wash trading practices.

The firm's involvement included artificially inflating trading volumes to deceive investors, achieved by simultaneous buying and selling of assets without actual market risk. Despite being located outside the US, CLS Global provided its services to US investors.

The company's activities surfaced through an FBI investigation where authorities established a fake crypto business, NexFundAI, hiring CLS Global to artificially boost trading volumes to meet exchange listing requirements. The firm admitted its actions constitute wash trading but downplayed its ethical consequences.