I'll just add that I have a strong suspicion that bato.to and its "batoto scans" (which are most definitely affiliated despite denying any connection) is run (or was acquired) by one of large Chinese players attempting to break into the English market, such as BilliBilli Comics to analyze the market abroad.
Connected sites can be found simply by looking here: https://static.animemark.com/img/ and the site is operated/developed by by "WhenRain Group" based on code comments here: https://static.animemark.com/funcs/misc.func.js . These match the mangapark domain registration info available here: https://urlscan.io/domain/mangapark.com

It's 100% not bilibili, that notion is actually ridiculous. There's no way bilibili were even considering the english market in 2018. Probably some other aggregator. It was already known from the beginning that bato.to was connected to mangapark, and it was also already known that aggregators often had multiple related sites. Chances are it's just a normal aggregator. What kinda whack ass conspiracy is this?

That said, I do think some groups will continue to primarily release on bato.to and nowhere else. The problem is it becomes a burden on the approvers to sift through whether each release sourced from there is an actual release or a rip of someone else's.

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Recruiting:
https://quicksandscans.wordpress.com/recruitment/

For webtoons especially, Bato.to is overwhelmingly filled with official scans ripped from the licensed publisher websites. (Just go to the manga title search and search for "Official" to see examples.) It's still a step up from other manga aggregator websites—which are filled with ripped official scans AND website ads to make money—but there's no effort at all made to match Mangadex's "no official scans" policy gray area.