There's always rationale when it comes to making money (whether through sharp practice or professional/ethical practice). They want to inflate the volume figures. To do this, they were pinging trades back and forth. Just volume - that has nothing to do with boosting the price of BTC.I own an exchange that is ranked 20th in terms of business.
So I put through a whole pile of matched deals so that I rise to no. 10 in the league.
Why would that inflate the price of Bitcoin though?
I do understand that I am trying to apply logic to a completely irrational business but is there any reasonable explanation for it?