NFT technology continues to make headlines by enabling the monetisation of original digital creations. However, a new report reveals that the crypto-art craze is not always a natural phenomenon. Some Internet users are inflating prices by buying and selling their own non-fungible tokens – a practice known as wash trading.
This process involves creating the illusion of an imaginary demand for a cryptocurrency, or in this case NFTs, by artificially inflating its trading volume. Wash trading is often organised by large traders who have the ability to influence the market. But, in the world of crypto-art, this technique is implemented by a small group of Internet users who are themselves taking on the roles of buyer and seller.