Jump Trading accused of pump-and-dump scheme in DIO token lawsuit

Jump Trading, a financial firm, is facing allegations of engaging in a pump-and-dump scheme with the native token of the online game “Decimated.” FractureLabs, the developer of the game, filed a lawsuit against Jump, accusing them of market manipulation. According to the complaint, FractureLabs planned to raise funds by offering the token, DIO, on the HTX (formerly Huobi) exchange. They hired Jump as a market maker, but it is alleged that Jump manipulated the token’s price. After the price surged, Jump allegedly sold their holdings, causing the token’s value to plummet. They then repurchased the tokens at a much lower price and returned them to FractureLabs. FractureLabs claims that Jump misrepresented its intentions and violated an agreement to maintain the token’s price within a specified range. FractureLabs is seeking arbitration to recover a $1.5 million deposit withheld by HTX. This is not the first controversy involving Jump, as the US Securities and Exchange Commission previously highlighted its involvement in the downfall of the UST stablecoin in a separate case. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has also reportedly initiated an investigation into Jump’s activities in the crypto market.