An unusual and suspicious pump and dump scam are seen in the trading pattern of Chainlink.  This is considered to be an attempt to manipulate the cryptocurrency price. However, the company has denied a role in the alleged manipulation, further stated that the cryptocurrency trading is not within control.

Pump and dump is a kind of microcap fraud where an asset type with a low price is manipulated by high volume purchases by a group of coordinated buyers.  This is a method used to trigger artificial inflation.  This kind of investment is usually followed by several investors who are not aware of the manipulation; eventually, investors follow the buying with a high price.

Victor Fang, CEO of AnChain.ai, stated, “We are confident that our research is illustrative of artificial market manipulation as it involves a small number of addresses accounting for a hugely disproportionate transaction volume over a short period of time, and that these transactions were subject to various forms of obfuscation and concealment atypical of legitimate market activity.”

Every token goes through an effect when it starts trading on a new exchange.  When it comes to moving forward, due diligence is required to sustain the ecosystem moving forward.  Regulation should become the center of the conversation if cryptocurrency thrived.  Market manipulation of this kind will leave a negative impact on the image of the cryptocurrency in the mainstream media.  Therefore, the cryptocurrency market is geared towards making integrity as a significant priority.

Whether mass adoption has taken place is a matter of debate in the cryptocurrency space.  Experts have their say about mass adoption and its start.

The start of mass adoption occurs when banks, giant retailers, social media, and tech giants are involved in investing in the crypto.  Institutions, governments, and Central Banks force the start of mass adoption.

Mass adoption is specific for use cases.  There is a difference between mass adoption as a payment method and mass adoption as a store of value.  Other kinds of mass adoption include smart contracts and NFTs [Nonfungible Tokens].

While we are not anywhere near mass adoption, we have passed the point of collective awareness.  Majority of the people have at least heard of mass adoption.  When 10% of the populations have begun to use it, then it can be called the start of mass adoption. Use of cryptocurrency would become an ordinary course and would not any longer be a point of discussion. For all this to happen, mass adoption businesses and individuals should be able to transact using the crypto.