Have EU or UK rule-makers covered front-running, and who did they call the victim?

"Under Regulation 19 of the Cryptoassets Regulations, “market manipulation” means any of the following activities— (a) entering into a transaction, placing an order to trade or engaging in any other behaviour which— (i) gives, or is likely to give, false or misleading signals as to the supply of, demand for, or price of, a relevant qualifying cryptoasset or related instrument, or (ii) secures, or i"

"The arrangements, systems and procedures must: (1) ensure effective and ongoing monitoring of: (a) all orders received and transmitted on the qualifying cryptoasset trading platform;"

"(2) enable the UK QCATP operator to analyse as quickly as practicable whether, on a case-by-case basis, a given order, transaction or activity is suspicious;"

"Likewise, there are obligations imposed on cryptoasset intermediaries to establish and maintain effective arrangements, systems and procedures aimed at preventing, detecting and disrupting actual or attempted cryptoasset insider dealing and cryptoasset market manipulation. This includes transaction surveillance and suspicious order and transaction reporting."

"MARC is a civil regime only and under the Cryptoassets Regulations, the relevant designated activities for the purposes of MARC are the use and disclosure of inside information, and market manipulation. The Cryptoassets Regulations do not require the person engaging in the behaviour in question to have intended to commit cryptoasset market abuse."

"It defines “market abuse” by reference to three core prohibitions: prohibited use of inside information, prohibition on disclosure of inside information, and prohibition of market manipulation."

"The Regulations prohibit specified persons from using inside information to acquire, dispose of, cancel or amend orders for relevant qualifying cryptoassets or related instruments, and also restrict recommendations or inducements based on inside informatio...n."

"Market manipulation: The framework prohibits market manipulation and identifies conduct such as false or misleading signals, abnormal or artificial price effects, deceptive devices, misleading rumours and benchmark manipulation."

"MARC prohibits insider dealing, unlawful disclosure of inside information and market manipulation in relation to qualifying cryptoassets admitted, or seeking admission, to trading on a UK QCATP. The prohibitions can apply regardless of whether the relevant behaviour takes place in the UK or overseas."

"MARC is deliberately not a copy-out of UK MAR. It is adapted for crypto-specific features, including cryptoassets with no traditional issuer, decentralised assets and on-chain activity."

"CATPs and intermediaries must implement proportionate systems and controls to prevent, detect, and disrupt market abuse. The rules are based on UK MAR, tailored to the cryptoasset market's unique characteristics."

"In the CP, it now proposes this requirement only for Large CATPs, who must share information with other Large CATPs without unnecessary delay if they have reasonable grounds to suspect market abuse and disclosure is necessary to detect, prevent, or disrupt it."

"Traditional methods to prevent front-running mainly involves after the fact investigation and legal action against the front-runners [28]. As mentioned in section 2.2, defining front-running and educating the employees were the first step taken to prevent such issues in traditional markets, however, front-running became less likely to happen mainly because of the high fine and lawsuits against fir"

"Prohibition of misuse of order information (including front-running) As quoted above, for CASPs executing orders on behalf of clients, MiCA expressly..."

"MiCA explicitly states that it does not apply to protocols operating in a fully decentralized manner"

"Miners of cryptoassets or block validators have discretion as to the order of transactions they prioritise and may select transactions that pay higher transaction fees."

"The third consultation package recognises that most abusive behaviours in cryptoasset markets seem to follow patterns of traditional finance Footnote 147 and uses existing technical requirements for arrangements and systems with some updates to provide for crypto-specific features."

"Nicht im Anwendungsbereich von Art. 92 MiCAR sind nach nicht unbestrittener Ansicht hingegen die Teilnehmer am Konsensmechanismus einer Blockchain, namentlich Miner bzw. Validatoren, sowie Personen, welche die Funktion von Searchers, Builders und Relays ausüben (nachfolgend zusammen „MEV-Agenten“)."

"Zumindest dann, wenn MEV-Agenten keine eigentlichen CASP-Funktionen ausüben, sollten sie nach vorliegender Ansicht nicht von Art. 92 MiCAR erfasst sein."

"Die Behörde geht grundsätzlich davon aus, dass Art. 16 MAR, der vergleichbare Vorgaben für traditionelle Wertpapiermärkte macht, als Ausgangspunkt zu betrachten ist."

"Leitlinien zu den Aufsichtspraktiken der zuständigen Behörden zur Vorbeugung und Aufdeckung von Marktmissbrauch gemäß der Verordnung über Märkte für Kryptowerte ( MiCA )"

"6. Vorschriften zur Bekämpfung von Marktmissbrauch (gelten seit 30. Dezember 2024)"

"Bitte beachten Sie, dass für sonstige Token, deren Zulassung zum Handel beantragt wurde, bereits ab dem Zeitpunkt der Beantragung die Regelungen zur Verhinderung und dem Verbot von Marktmissbrauch (Artikel 86 ff MiCAR) gelten."

"Das Ziel: MiCAR soll den Schutz der Anlegerinnen und Anleger erhöhen, Geldwäsche und Terrorismusfinanzierung verhindern, zur Funktionsfähigkeit der Märkte beitragen und die Finanzstabilität wahren."

"Sie vermitteln oder führen beruflich Geschäfte mit Kryptowerten aus? Sie haben Hinweise, dass bei einem Auftrag oder einem Geschäft Marktmissbrauch begangen wurde, begangen wird oder wahrscheinlich begangen wird? Dann sind Sie verpflichtet, jeden begründeten Verdacht unverzüglich der Bafin über das MVP -Portal zu melden."