Manipulation occurred in 2013. This price manipulation is done by two bots and is listed as "??" in the user's country. They named this bot "Markus" and "Willy".

Markus buys and sells bitcoins at seemingly random prices and does not pay for transaction fees. After further examination, Markus does not actually pay for Bitcoin received. Markus earns 335,889 bitcoins and is active from February 14, 2013 through September 27, 2013.

Seven hours after Markus becomes inactive, Willy appears with 49 accounts. Each of these Willy accounts sequentially purchases bitcoins worth US $ 2.5 million and then becomes inactive. During this period, bitcoin prices soared.