Crypto market maker Gotbit and founder sentenced for fraud, manipulation

Gotbit Consulting LLC, a salient cryptocurrency marketplace maker, was sentenced successful national tribunal for transgression charges related to a multi-year strategy to manipulate integer plus trading volumes, according to a June 13 press release.

Aleksei Andriunin, the firm’s 26-year-old laminitis and CEO, was sentenced to 8 months successful situation and 1 twelvemonth of supervised merchandise for conspiracy to perpetrate ligament fraud and marketplace manipulation.

The Russian-Portuguese nationalist was extradited from Portugal to the U.S. earlier this twelvemonth aft his apprehension successful October 2024.

Prosecutors accidental Gotbit orchestrated a blase strategy betwixt 2018 and 2024 that progressive “wash trading,” which involves the usage of aggregate accounts to make fake trades and inflate evident marketplace activity, connected behalf of assorted token issuers, including Robo Inu and Saitama.

Forfeiture and firm shutdown

As portion of a plea agreement, Gotbit was sentenced to 5 years of probation and ordered to forfeit astir $23 cardinal successful seized cryptocurrency.

The firm, which was based extracurricular the United States but worked with galore U.S.-accessible crypto platforms, is present required to cease each operations.

Gotbit’s services included generating artificial trading measurement to assistance lawsuit tokens summation visibility connected platforms specified arsenic CoinMarketCap and execute listings connected top-tier exchanges.

In a 2019 interview, Andriunin openly admitted to processing lavation trading bundle that enabled specified tactics portion avoiding blockchain detection.

Cracking down connected marketplace abuse

Gotbit is the 3rd market-making steadfast to beryllium prosecuted for lavation trading since 2024. Earlier cases progressive MyTrade and CLS Global, some ensnared successful an undercover national cognition aimed astatine exposing marketplace maltreatment successful the integer plus sector.

Gotbit’s directors, Fedor Kedrov and Qawi Jalili, stay nether indictment, with transgression proceedings ongoing. Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has launched a parallel civilian enforcement enactment accusing Gotbit of securities instrumentality violations.

The transgression lawsuit was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher J. Markham and David M. Holcomb, with plus forfeiture handled by AUSA Carol Head of the Asset Recovery Unit. The FBI’s Boston Division led the investigation.

The station Crypto marketplace shaper Gotbit and laminitis sentenced for fraud, manipulation appeared archetypal connected CryptoSlate.