It seems to be the case if you study the charts that algo traders inflate prices very quickly especially with the lower and medium cap altcoins. I am sure those that those that take notice have seen 800% gains in the matter of hours with some of these coins and tokens.

Suck in the those with fomo and then sell at or near the top. Rinse and repeat. There must literally be hundreds of thousands of trade bots in action and probably many thousands just trading between each other.

How is any investigation going to be broad enough to investigate these tactics and do anything about them. Given that fake orders, spoofing, and collusion also affect equity markets despite the best efforts of authorities to crack down, it seemingly cannot be completely eliminated. It seems a tall order indeed.

So yes I totally agree, start with the exchanges. They have the sheer buying power and the most ability to move the higher market cap coins and tokens through collusion or other means. And may be a less lofty and a more achievable goal than going after traders.