The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern California announced that a federal grand jury has indicted 10 executives and employees of cryptocurrency market makers Gotbit, Vortex, Antier, and Contrarian, accusing them of manipulating cryptocurrency prices and trading volumes through "wash trading" (fake trading) to induce investors to buy at artificially inflated prices. Law enforcement information indicates that the case was uncovered in a covert operation conducted jointly by the FBI and the IRS Criminal Investigation Division targeting manipulation in the cryptocurrency industry, and more than $1 million in cryptocurrency assets have been seized. Two CEOs and one executive from the three companies have been extradited from Singapore to the United States and made their first court appearance in Oakland, California federal court. Two of the defendants had previously pleaded guilty and been sentenced. According to the indictment, those involved could face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.