[gamblor956]

A pump and dump scheme requires that the "pump" be achieved by making fraudulent representations about the assets being "pumped" to artificially increase their value, followed by said assets being offloaded at the artificially increased value.

McAfee did that all of that. Tesla/Musk did not (no false statements of fact or offloading at artificially inflated values).

Additionally, a "cartel" has a legal definition which requires deliberate coordination of activity (aka "collusion"). Independent activity in which everyone does the same thing without coordination is not a cartel, because the coordination aspect of it is key to the illegality of the act.

[EGreg]

So a group of people pumping a cryptocurrency by buying it, and then letting the skyrocketing charts in exchanges and news about it bring new people into the mix, and then selling, is totally fine? Even if this group of people coordinates their activities?

[vntok]

As you wrote it, yes it is completely fine.

[EGreg]

Please back that up with links to a legal argument or SOMETHING. I realize it’s hard to prove a negative but can you at least back it up with authoritative links of some sort?

[gamblor956]

In the U.S., activities are legal unless there is a law stating that they are illegal.

We don't need to provide an authoritative link that the above is legal; you need to provide some sort of authority that it is not.