Diversification reduce reliance on any single market, ensuring stability during downturns. Here are the top 5 ways to diversify your portfolio.

Imagine watching the market crash while your portfolio stays steady — not because you predicted the dip, but because you built a strong defense against it. 

 is a time-tested financial safeguard in unpredictable markets. By balancing various assets, such as crypto, commodities, 

 and international stocks, investors can weather 

 and seize opportunities. So, how do you diversify effectively without overcomplicating things? This article explores the top expert strategies, and some common pitfalls to avoid.

 strategy that spreads investments across different asset classes, sectors or countries to reduce exposure to any single asset or risk. This approach aims to stabilize returns by cushioning the impact of market volatility on your overall portfolio.

Why is portfolio diversification important?

The age-old advice not to “put all your eggs in one basket” holds true when it comes to investing, and it’s a simple but powerful way to protect your wealth. Diversification helps safeguard your capital by spreading your investments across different assets so that when one underperforms, others may help offset the loss. This strategy is especially important for people nearing retirement, or for anyone who values financial stability.

By investing across various asset classes — such as stocks, bonds and real estate, as well as different industries and geographic regions — you build a portfolio that’s more resilient to economic ups and downs. But beyond just reducing risk, diversification often leads to better risk-adjusted returns and less day-to-day volatility, for an investment experience that’s less stressful overall. Moreover, because not all investments will dip at the same time, investors don’t continually have to monitor everything in their portfolios.

Diversification can also help guard against inflation, thanks to assets that tend to perform well when prices rise. At the same time, it opens the door to opportunities in growing markets, all while keeping your investment approach balanced and aligned with your long-term financial goals.

Top 5 tips for diversifying your portfolio

Here are five smart ways to diversify your investments and protect your future returns.

Tip 1: Spread investments across asset classes

Spreading your investments across different asset classes, such as stocks, bonds, real estate, cryptocurrencies and commodities, helps ensure your portfolio isn’t overly exposed to the risks of any single market segment. This makes your investments more resilient. Different assets often react differently to market conditions, so when one asset underperforms, others may perform better, balancing your overall returns (as well as your risks).

Assuming you invest solely in stocks, and the stock market declines, your entire portfolio may suffer. However, if you also hold bonds, which often perform well when stocks decline, any blow to your portfolio can be softened.​

Don’t just buy one type of stock or bond. Within each asset class, invest in a mix of sectors (such as technology, healthcare and energy), company sizes (large-cap, mid-cap and small-cap) and styles (growth, value and dividend). This approach further reduces the risk that poor performance in one area or industry will drag down your entire portfolio.

If you invest heavily in the technology sector and it experiences a downturn, your portfolio could suffer accordingly. Diversifying into other sectors like healthcare or consumer goods can help balance your investments’ performance.​

Tip 3: Low-cost index funds and ETFs for instant diversification

 (ETFs) offer a ready-made way to achieve diversification. They provide exposure to a broad range of assets or sectors, often at a lower cost than actively managed funds. This approach simplifies diversification, and can be more accessible for individual investors, especially beginners. It's an efficient way to diversify quickly and easily, as each fund typically holds dozens or even hundreds of underlying securities.

For instance, investing in an S&P 500 index fund gives you exposure to 500 large US companies, providing instant diversification across various industries.​

​Expanding your portfolio to include international assets can enhance diversification and provide exposure to growth opportunities beyond your home country. Investing globally can help mitigate risks associated with domestic economic downturns, as different regions may experience varying economic cycles.​

 their US counterparts in the first quarter of 2025. This outperformance was attributed to strong corporate earnings, increased defense and infrastructure spending in Europe, and the absence of direct US tariffs targeting European goods. Despite initial skepticism, European stocks rose by 10–12%, even as US markets declined somewhat, thus helping to stabilize global portfolio returns for investors with international diversification

However, investors must be mindful of currency exchange risks. Fluctuations in exchange rates can impact the value of international investments. For instance, if you invest in a European company and the euro depreciates against the US dollar, the value of your investment in dollar terms may decrease even if the company's performance remains strong.

Diversification isn’t a one-time task. Over time, some investments may grow faster than others, skewing your original allocation. Regularly reviewing and rebalancing your portfolio ensures it stays aligned with your 

 and investment goals, maintaining the benefits of diversification while improving long-term performance.

Let’s say your target allocation is 60% stocks and 40% bonds, but stocks perform well and grow to 70% of your portfolio. In this case, rebalancing would involve selling some stocks and buying bonds to return to your original allocation.​

Common portfolio diversification mistakes to avoid

Avoiding these common diversification mistakes can help you build a stronger, more resilient portfolio:

How to diversify your portfolio with Bybit

Bybit is a leading crypto exchange that offers a wide range of products designed to help you diversify across cryptocurrencies, traditional assets and innovative financial instruments. Following are some of the many products and services that Bybit offers.

Portfolio diversification is a key strategy for reducing risk by spreading investments across different asset classes, sectors and regions. Achieving this goal, however, requires a balanced and disciplined approach to ensure resilience and long-term growth. Bybit helps simplify this process with powerful tools like MT5 trading, Copy Trading and Structured Products. These tools allow investors to diversify their portfolios more effectively, providing access to diverse markets and strategies while also minimizing risk. 

Beginner

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Top 5 tips to diversify your portfolio

Obol Collective (OBOL) enhances Ethereum staking with distributed validators, reducing risk, slashing penalties, and entry barriers for smaller stakers.

The Ethereum blockchain has crashed!" — This is a news piece that has never been reported and will, hopefully, never see the light of day. Although several other blockchain networks have experienced significant outages or total breakdowns, a network failure of any appreciable proportions has never occurred in the history of 

 (ETH). A large part of the blockchain's stellar security record is due to its global and well-decentralized network of validator 

However, despite boasting excellent decentralization properties, Ethereum does have areas to improve upon in its validation and 

 mechanisms. First, running a full validator node on the network is financially prohibitive for smaller individuals and entities, as the blockchain requires a stake of 32 ETH (around $84,500 as of May 14, 2025) per each full validator. Secondly, there’s always a risk of individual validators, even the largest ones, being hacked. Finally, technical failures may lead to slashing penalties for validators, and too many instances of such slashing can undermine trust in the blockchain’s security model.

Obol Collective (OBOL) is a decentralized platform based on 

 (DVT), which aims to solve the vulnerabilities of Ethereum validation and staking. Leveraging DVT, Obol lets multiple nodes run as a single validator, splitting both the processing load and slashing risks. By distributing responsibility across numerous participants, Obol effectively eliminates single points of failure and enhances the overall resilience of Ethereum’s staking infrastructure. Importantly, Obol’s use of DVT reduces entry barriers to Ethereum staking for smaller entities — individuals or small organizations — as they can team up and pool their resources to act as a single validator.

 (OBOL), a provider of decentralized infrastructure, enables multiple parties to jointly run Ethereum validators in a secure and fault-tolerant fashion. 

At the core of Obol’s product offering is DVT — a technology that splits all the functionalities of a single validator on a 

 (PoS) network between multiple (potentially many) individual nodes. These nodes share not only processing responsibilities, but also risks and rewards.

Obol’s infrastructure project is most typically used by 

 (RPL), to support their operations. While these protocols handle user funds and front-end functionality, Obol provides its DVT-based validator set to help support their Ethereum-based liquid staking.

Obol offers numerous benefits to liquid staking protocols and validator entities. It creates access to Ethereum staking for smaller, aspiring validators. Such entities often struggle with the financial requirement of staking no fewer than 32 ETH to run a validator. By joining an Obol cluster, which lets multiple nodes act as a single validator, these smaller players can participate in Ethereum staking by splitting the 32 ETH requirement between them.

Additionally, Obol’s DVT-based node splitting for validators provides better protection against the risk of slashing, which results in financial penalties or even suspension for the offending node. Slashing occurs on Ethereum and other PoS chains when a validator fails to fulfill their responsibilities on the network. It may happen due to willful misbehavior, or it could often be the result of honest mistakes or misconfigurations. For instance, a failed internet connection may keep a validator node offline for too long, resulting in slashing. Thanks to Obol's DVT, the other nodes can still keep the cluster functioning if one node fails.

The Obol project was conceptualized and developed by Obol Labs, an Illinois (US)–based company founded in 2021 by Oisín Kyne and Collin Myers, and the platform is supported by the nonprofit Obol Association. The first distributed validator on Ethereum was launched by the project in late 2022. As of this writing in May 2025, Obol Collective has established itself as the largest provider of DVT services in the blockchain industry.

Using Obol, developers and operators can create distributed validator (DV) clusters, each one acting as a single full validator on Ethereum. There are two options for creating clusters within Obol Collective: 

When one operator creates a cluster, they can assign multiple nodes to it, creating a distributed setup that avoids a single point of failure. It's recommended that the cluster nodes be hosted on different machines, although it's also permissible to use a single machine for all of the nodes. Using one machine for all cluster nodes creates a significant vulnerability, due to centralization of resources.

To automate and manage proper splitting of validator rewards and staking allocations, Obol uses a set of 

. These are noncustodial and normally immutable, meaning that the share allocations rewarded to nodes within a DV cannot be changed after the cluster’s deployment. However, one specific type of Splits contract, a 

 splitter contract, does have the functionality to update split percentages at a post-deployment stage. 

Obol Splits technology has been integrated into some of the leading liquid staking and restaking protocols — Lido and 

 (EIGEN) — to help DV operators service these platforms.

Charon is middleware developed by Obol to allow any Ethereum validator to operate as part of a DV. It acts as the main layer, allowing the platform to offer DVT-based services. Using Charon, operators can create a Byzantine fault tolerant (BFT) cluster and coordinate their work on the network as a single entity. Byzantine fault tolerance allows Obol clusters to operate and process Ethereum blocks even if some of the nodes within the cluster behave maliciously, or fail due to technical issues.

Obol also offers a staking-as-a-service (StaaS) product that lets users access staking opportunities without having to run the actual node hardware, further reducing barriers to end users for entry to Ethereum staking.

Obol’s DV Launchpad lets users configure and launch their clusters. Step by step, the launchpad walks users through all of the procedures required to create their own DV together with their peers. For less technically minded users, the launchpad is an ideal way to set up clusters using its graphical interface.

The platform's native token, OBOL, is an 

 asset issued on the Ethereum blockchain. OBOL was launched in January 2025, more than two years after Obol began offering its DV services. Upon launch, OBOL tokens remained locked, i.e., non-transferable. On May 7, 2025, this restriction was removed, making OBOL publicly available and freely tradable. Due to the lockup period, many online sources report May 7 as the token's actual launch date.

The OBOL token has several key functions on Obol Collective. One of these is 

, as OBOL token holders can delegate their voting power to designated delegates who participate in votes in the Token House, a governance platform where proposals regarding Obol Collective's direction and rules are introduced, considered and voted on.

Delegates also vote on funding allocations to support ecosystem growth under Obol’s Retroactive Funding (RAF) program. As such, OBOL holders may participate in funding decisions through their chosen delegates.

Another utility function of the token is that of staking. You can earn OBOL rewards through OBOL Incentives, a community incentives program that lets you stake your ETH on DVs. In 2025, 12.5 million OBOL are being distributed as staking rewards under this program.

The OBOL token may also be used for various DeFi use cases, e.g., within lending protocols and restaking platforms, as well as for increasing liquidity on DeFi protocols by contributing to their liquidity pools.

OBOL's total and maximum supply is 500 million, with just over 98.7 million tokens in circulation. Of the total supply amount, 7.5% was distributed via a retroactive 

 that rewarded certain ecosystem community members, such as developers and users who contributed to testnet and Alpha and Beta Mainnet operations.

The chart below shows the allocation shares of the token’s total supply.

The OBOL token is available on Bybit both as a 

. You can also take advantage of the Bybit event dedicated to the OBOL token to grab a share of the 

To join the event, deposit or trade OBOL on Bybit's Spot market, and stake between 200 and 1,000 OBOL using Bybit’s 15-day Fixed Savings plan to earn a 25% APR. Also, VIP users can enjoy staking limits of 2,000 OBOL and an exclusive 50% APR, while new users can access up to 200% APR via a booster voucher. The event is valid till Jun 7, 2025, 12PM UTC.

As of May 14, 2025, the OBOL token has been on the market only for a week. It’s currently trading at $0.2347, 38.3% lower than its ATH of $0.3801 on May 7, 2025, and 2.1% higher than its ATL of $0.2298, registered on May 13, 2025.

Long-term price forecasts for OBOL are mostly bullish. DigitalCoinPrice 

 of $0.79 in 2027 and $1.17 in 2030, while CoinCodex 

 at around $ 0.25 in 2027 and rise to $0.86 in 2030.

Given the token's minimal market history, future price determination for OBOL is a tentative exercise at the moment. Various market forces and industry developments can influence the token's price in the future, so always conduct your 

 before deciding to invest in OBOL or any other crypto token.

As the leading provider of a decentralized operator ecosystem, Obol stands out as one of the most essential decentralized infrastructure networks in the Ethereum ecosystem, offering a truly next-gen staking and validation system and contributing to better blockchain security. Obol's DVT-based model offers slashing-resistant nodes, and helps further decentralize Ethereum’s validator system.

Distributed validators are crucial not just for decentralization, but also for better performance and security. Unlike traditional validators, they democratize access to Ethereum staking by supporting restaking-based finance applications and smaller players in the niche. Among Layer 1 blockchains, Ethereum features some of the most onerous financial requirements in order to run a full validator node. Obol Collective solves this problem using its DV model, a true innovation within the world of Ethereum.

Advanced

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Obol Collective (OBOL): Coordinating trust through collective staking

This article explores Lorenzo Protocol, how its core technology works, the utility of its native BANK token and how you can trade it on Bybit.

Bitcoin, the world’s most successful original cryptocurrency, holds the largest crypto market capitalization. However, much of its vast liquidity remains separate from the diverse yield opportunities in 

. Lorenzo Protocol is designed to bridge this gap, aiming to transform BTC from a passive store of value into a productive, yield-generating asset for both institutional and retail users.

This article explores Lorenzo Protocol, its recent evolution into an institutional-grade asset management platform, how its core technology works, the utility of its native BANK token and how you can trade it on Bybit.

 is a decentralized asset management platform that’s building an institutional-grade financial layer for Bitcoin, aiming to unlock its vast liquidity for the DeFi ecosystem. Initially focused on helping BTC holders access yield through 

 its infrastructure with the introduction of its Financial Abstraction Layer. This strategic shift positions Lorenzo Protocol as an on-chain asset management platform that’s dedicated to tokenizing financial products and delivering sustainable, real yield.

The protocol's core mission is to advance a borderless global economy by enabling Bitcoin holders and other capital providers to earn yield without sacrificing their assets’ liquidity. It seeks to connect idle capital with diverse yield strategies, including staking and sophisticated trading opportunities, making these opportunities accessible through standardized, tokenized financial products.

Who are Lorenzo Protocol's founders and investors?

Lorenzo Protocol was co-founded by a team with strong backgrounds in finance and technology. Co-founders Matt Ye, Fan Sang and Toby Yu serve (respectively) as CEO, CTO and CFO. Their collective expertise guides the protocol's development and strategic vision.

The project has garnered support from a range of prominent investors. Key backers include YZi Labs, BNB Chain, Geekcartel, NGC Ventures, HTX Ventures, ArkStream Capital, Animoca Brands and Sats Ventures. As of May 12, 2025, Lorenzo Protocol has a DeFi 

Two core components power Lorenzo Protocol’s mission to bring institutional-grade financial products on-chain: the 

The Financial Abstraction Layer is Lorenzo's core infrastructure. It tokenizes centralized finance (CeFi) strategies and makes them usable within DeFi. The FAL packages complex operations, such as custody, lending and trading, into simple, tokenized products accessible via standardized vaults and modular APIs. This allows financial access platforms (like neobanks or PayFi apps) to integrate verifiable yield modules without building complex financial logic themselves. 

An example of a product powered by FAL is the On-Chain Traded Fund (OTF), which tokenizes yield strategies (fixed yield, principal protection, etc.) into a single tradable ticker, similar to traditional 

The Bitcoin Liquidity Layer specifically focuses on integrating BTC into DeFi. Recognizing that a vast amount of Bitcoin sits idle, this layer provides infrastructure for issuing various BTC-native derivative tokens. These include stBTC, a liquid staking token representing Bitcoin staked via 

 (WBTC) standard designed for seamless use across Lorenzo's ecosystem and DeFi. This layer aims to turn passive BTC into active capital for 

BANK is the native governance and utility token of the Lorenzo Protocol. It plays a crucial role in the ecosystem's operation and long-term alignment. The key use cases of BANK include:

As of May 12, 2025, according to CoinGecko data, 

The initial circulating supply was 20.25% of the total, with 8% of the total supply reserved for an initial community 

. BANK’s token unlock schedule is designed for long-term alignment, with no token unlocks for the team, investors, advisors or treasury in the first year post-

Bybit has recently expanded its offerings on its user-friendly and intuitive cryptocurrency exchange by 

. This allows traders to gain exposure to BANK's price movements with leverage.

The BANKUSDT Perpetual contract is featured in Bybit's Innovation Zone, which provides access to new and innovative token pairs. Users can trade this contract with up to 50x leverage.

You can trade the BANKUSDT Perpetual contract on Bybit once you have a verified account with deposited funds. Here's how to get started, in four simple steps:

Intermediate

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Lorenzo Protocol (BANK): Unlocking institutional Bitcoin liquidity and yield

In this article, we’ll dive into the Pundi X ecosystem and learn how each product works, examine the PUNDIX token and share how to trade PUNDIX on Bybit.

Pundi X, founded in 2017 by Zac Cheah and Pitt Huang, is a blockchain-based payment solution designed to simplify cryptocurrency transactions, making them as seamless as traditional retail payments.

With an ecosystem of tools like the XPOS point-of-sale device, XWallet mobile app and XPASS virtual card, Pundi X aims to bridge the gap between the digital and physical.

Pundi X is a blockchain-based payment solution aimed at making cryptocurrency transactions as straightforward as traditional retail payments. Founded in 2017, it bridges the gap between digital assets and retail, enabling consumers to buy, sell and spend crypto in physical stores.

The project initially launched with the NPXS token in 2018, later rebranding to PUNDIX in 2021 via a 1000:1 token swap intended to reduce supply and strengthen its brand identity.

Pundi X was co-founded in 2017 by Zac Cheah and Pitt Huang.

The project is backed by a mix of institutional investors and blockchain pioneers, supporting its mission to make crypto payments mainstream.

The Pundi X ecosystem is designed to make crypto transactions as seamless as traditional payments, bridging the gap between blockchain and retail. 

Pundi X Chain is a multichain blockchain network designed for high-speed, low-cost retail transactions. It’s optimized to support the Pundi X ecosystem, including XPOS, XWallet and XPASS, providing a scalable infrastructure for global merchants looking to integrate blockchain technology.

PUNDIX is the native utility token of the Pundi X ecosystem. It supports transactions, rewards and network security. Initially launched as NPXS in 2018, it rebranded to PUNDIX in 2021 with a 1000:1 token swap.

PUNDIX is available for trading on multiple leading exchanges, including Bybit, which recently listed the PUNDIX/USDT Perpetual contract with up to 25x leverage. This listing provides traders with enhanced flexibility for leveraged trading.

Trading PUNDIX on Bybit is straightforward. Simply use the following step-by-step guide:

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Pundi X (PUNDIX): AI-powered web3 payment ecosystem

Trading

Wash trading defines a sale in which a trader is selling an asset, then repurchasing it at or about the same time as the sale. But how to avoid it? Learn more.

Wash-trading.jpg

Wash trading is when a trader or investor buys and sells the same security within a short window in an effort to mislead other market participants about the price or liquidity of an asset. Within the securities markets wash trading is illegal, but there are yet to have set regulations within the crypto industry.

In this article, we’ll discuss what wash trading is, how it works, where it’s commonly used within crypto markets — and how to avoid falling prey to it.

Wash trading defines a sale in which a trader is selling an asset, then repurchasing it at or about the same time as the sale.

Wash trades can be used as a form of market manipulation. An investor buys and sells the same asset, in quick succession, in an attempt to influence the price or trading activity.

There are several motivations for a trader or company wanting to engage in wash trading. The goal might be to spur buying activity in order to send prices up or encourage selling to drive prices lower. Another motivation may involve a trader trying to use the wash sale to lock in a capital loss, and then to buy the asset on a lower cost basis, essentially seeking a tax rebate.

Although wash trading may involve several different traders, companies and accounts, the motivation is the same. The intent of wash trading is to mislead, boosting perceptions of the price and volume of a financial asset that’s being traded.

At a basic level, a wash trade is an investor buying and selling an asset at the same time. However, a true wash trade goes further, taking into account the investor’s intent.

Therefore, two conditions are generally met to confirm a wash trade.

The first condition is intent. The wash trader must have had a specific strategy to buy and sell the same asset ahead of time. Again, wash trading is conducted in an effort to mislead. As a result, multiple accounts are needed to try to pull off the misrepresentation.

The trader, or firm, will make transactions on the same asset, but will use the different accounts to result in changed prices or increased trading volume. The account with the asset will sell the asset to another account of the wash trader.

The second condition is the result. The result of the transaction must be a wash trade, where the investor has bought and sold the same asset at the same time, using accounts that have the same or common ownership.

One way to determine if wash trading is taking place is by inspecting the financial position of the investor. If the trade doesn’t change the investor’s overall position, or expose them to any type of market risk, then it can be considered a wash.

Let’s assume we have a stock trader named Joe, and a brokerage firm colluding to rapidly buy and sell stock in company ABC. The idea is that other investors will notice the activity on ABC stock, and will decide to invest in ABC. As these investors buy ABC, the price rises, and Joe profits from the rally. Then, “Joe” short-sells ABC stock, driving the price lower and profiting from the downward price trend.

Wash trading has been suspected in cryptocurrencies, too, especially with regulators slow to regulate its existence. Back in 2017 and 2018, when blockchain projects would raise money via ICOs (initial coin offerings), the crowdfunding revenue could be recycled back to the exchanges to show a bolstered level of interest in the new project.

For example, large investors within a crypto project, XYZ, might buy some more XYZ crypto from that project using multiple addresses. Once they’ve acquired additional XYZ, then they would transfer the same amount of XYZ to the exchanges. At that point, they would convert XYZ to Ether and use that Ether to buy more XYZ. This behavior would continue for some time, using multiple addresses in an attempt to disguise their intent.

Outside investors would see the increased interest and volume in XYZ, then decide to buy into the project long-term. This additional interest from outside holders with long-term intent increases the price of XYZ. Then, the insider would sell some of their XYZ crypto at a profit. In essence, the large investors of XYZ use wash trading to mislead others about the speculative interest in the project — so they can eventually dump their holding at a profit.

Wash Trading vs. Market Making: The Differences

On the surface, wash trading and market making might seem like the same thing.

Market making is buying and selling the same amount of an asset at the same time, but possibly at different locations. For example, a market maker of Bitcoin would make it available for a trader to buy at one exchange for $49,300. Then, when an investor decides to buy 0.01 Bitcoin the market maker sold to them, the market maker will turn around and quickly buy 0.01 Bitcoin for $49,200 on another exchange. The market maker would be flat in the market, but has profited from the spread and difference in pricing for Bitcoin. 

The key difference between market making and wash trading is intent. Market making provides a service by having the asset readily available for other investors to buy and sell. Therefore, there are other investors involved with the market-making transactions. The market maker is allowing their crypto to be made available for somebody else (whom they do not know) to buy.

Wash trading, on the other hand, is when the only “parties” in the transaction are accounts with common ownership. A wash trader will use accounts with beneficial and common ownership to be the “parties” to the trade. In this way, a wash trader is effectively trading with themselves — and nobody else. As a result, there is no immediate benefit other than misleading others about the price or volume of the financial asset.

, have come under scrutiny recently vis-à-vis wash trading. First, let’s review what makes NFTs different, then describe how wash trading can occur with NFTs.

What Makes NFTs Different from Bitcoin or Ethereum?

To understand NFTs, we first need to start with a fungible token. A fungible token is an asset that can be exchanged like-for-like. Fiat currency is fungible. You and I can trade $10 dollar bills, and we’ll still each have the same value.

NFTs are different because each one is unique. Real estate is non-fungible. You and I can have the same floor plan for our two houses, on the same street in the same neighborhood. However, your house may have upgrades in it, and may perhaps be in better condition. Therefore, it would not be an equal value exchange if we simply traded houses.

Within crypto, an NFT is simply something unique, whose owner and other details are stored on a blockchain. There’s a rapidly increasing amount of NFTs to buy and collect.

If you’re an NFT creator, you’ll want a way for your NFT to stand out, so that people can buy it from you and you can profit. For this reason, wash trading has entered the NFT space.

A wash trader would buy and sell their own NFT so that it will show inflated volume and interest — and possibly a price increase. (The wash trader controls both the buy and sell prices — so they can buy it at a higher price from themselves.) This behavior can be repeated over and over.

As a result, outsiders seeing this increased activity might consider buying the NFT at an inflated price. Once the NFT is sold to an outsider, the NFT creator pockets the difference. 

 completed research on this topic and found 110 wallet addresses that profited a combined $8.9 million from active wash trading.

 prohibits wash trading. Prior to its passage, traders commonly used wash trading to manipulate markets and stock prices. The 

 (CFTC) also enforces regulations regarding wash trading, including guidelines that bar brokers from profiting as a result of wash trading activity.

The IRS also has rules regarding wash trades. These rules disallow investors from deducting capital losses on the taxes (from sales or trades of securities) that result from wash sales. For example, traders who are using wash trades in stocks to skip out on a tax bill will find themselves still owing the tax bill.

However, the regulations for crypto have not caught up yet. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been taking an interest in cryptocurrencies. However, NFTs are not considered securities, because they’re non-fungible and are outside the purview of the SEC.

Likewise, the IRS considers crypto to be property, not securities. Until such time that the regulators figure out whose jurisdiction applies to overseeing crypto, there’s the risk of wash trading —and, therefore, of misleading price and volume data.

Wash trading is more prevalent in smaller and newer markets than in the larger, more established markets. This is because smaller markets are more easily manipulated.

A big whale can easily move the market in small- or micro-cap crypto, as the size of their balance sheet can be comparable to the value of the crypto itself. With small-cap crypto, just buying and selling a little bit will trigger some bots to “wake up” and generate more volume in the market.

Additionally, new coins that are added to the market won’t have any price or volume history attached. Therefore, developers or other insiders might engage in wash trading to mislead participants about the true value of the coin.

Lastly, many NFTs have no volume or interest in their trading. Therefore, NFT owners can easily engage in wash trading to lure unsuspecting buyers into purchasing the NFT at an inflated price. The best defense against wash trading is to avoid new issues, small-cap cryptos and NFTs.

To avoid being the victim of a wash trade incident, lean toward more established, larger volume cryptocurrencies. The larger the market is, the more funding needed for nefarious players to manipulate the market. As you can imagine, this is extremely difficult to do in large markets like Bitcoin or Ethereum, which are worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

 of the crypto, the more exchanges will be dealing in it. This effectively allows for better price discovery. For example, if one exchange is allowing wash trades, then arbitrageurs will siphon away any difference in pricing with other exchanges. The bigger the cryptocurrency, the more likely there will be several exchanges dealing in that market — which allows arbitrage opportunities between the different venues to bring pricing back in line.

Lastly, seek out those markets with an established track record of trading. That way, you can compare the volume of transactions now to that crypto’s history. This comparison will indicate whether extreme amounts of volume have entered the market, possibly misleading participants.

Any good trader or investor will have a plan and a strategy for their trades. Having a process and repeatable method to enter into trades and positions — coupled with a process for an exit strategy on the trade — is what brings consistency to trade. In your trading plan, also be sure to consider the age and size of the cryptocurrency. 

Wash trading involves the intent to mislead and deceive market participants regarding the price of an asset, and/or the volume of trades being made. Wash trading occurs frequently in crypto — and especially with the less liquid NFTs — as regulations haven’t yet caught up to this new asset class.

Until such time as regulations are updated, you can avoid being victimized by wash traders by trading in crypto markets that are larger in size and have longer price histories.

Wash Trading: What It Is & Why It’s Important

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Wash Trading: What It Is & Why It’s Important

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Compete for 2,500 USDT USDT Every Week

Grab Up to 5,000 USDT in Rewards