[South Korea's Financial Services Commission Cracks Down on Two Cases of Crypto Market Manipulation, API Lenders May Be Considered Accomplices] According to Yonhap Infomax, South Korea's Financial Services Commission decided during its 8th regular meeting to refer suspects in two virtual asset market manipulation cases to investigative authorities. The manipulation methods uncovered in these cases combined traditional securities market tactics like 'pump and dump' with API abuse unique to the virtual asset market. The first suspect purchased specific virtual assets in advance and issued concentrated high-price buy orders within a short period to artificially inflate prices. Simultaneously, they placed fake buy orders to prevent price drops, repeatedly selling off assets for profit. The second suspect rented API keys for multiple accounts at a certain cost and created the illusion of active trading through repeated wash trades between these accounts. They then used relay-style high-price orders to drive up prices before selling to retail investors who followed the trend. The Financial Services Commission warned that if API keys are used for unfair trading or money laundering, account holders may be held civilly and criminally liable as accomplices.