Concerns are growing that Korea has become a playground for cross-border speculators in the cryptocurrency market. Last month, fluctuations in the value of the altcoin Avail on Bithumb raised suspicions of possible borrowed-name transactions by foreigners and price manipulation.

Financial authorities here are investigating market manipulation accusations against Avail, as its price plummeted shortly following its listing on the country’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange.

This marks the first investigation conducted under the Virtual Asset User Protection Act, which regulates unfair trading practices and came into effect on July 19.

Avail is developed by Polygon, a popular platform in the blockchain ecosystem, which ranks 21st by market capitalization globally, with a market cap of approximately $4.2 billion.

It was listed on some cryptocurrency exchanges within and outside the country on July 23.

On Bithumb, it started trading at 236 won ($0.17) and skyrocketed to 3,500 won in just 15 minutes, marking an 홀짝게임 astonishing increase of 1,383 percent. However, by around 3 p.m. the next day, it plummeted to around 296 won.

This led to allegations of market manipulation, considering the price discrepancy with overseas exchanges. When Avail surged to 3,500 won on Bithumb, it was trading in the low 200-won range on global exchanges like Huobi.

Even considering the typical “pump effect” that often accompanies a new listing, the price surge was deemed as excessive. The financial authorities believe this suggests abnormal trading activities.