Federal prosecutors have charged Aleksei Andriunin, the Russian founder of cryptocurrency firm Gotbit, with running a sophisticated market manipulation scheme operating between 2018 and 2024.
Federal prosecutors have charged Aleksei Andriunin, the Russian founder of cryptocurrency firm Gotbit, with running a sophisticated market manipulation scheme operating between 2018 and 2024. According to the Department of Justice, Andriunin and his company participated in wide-ranging "wash trading" practices by creating sham trading volumes of various cryptocurrency customers.
The charges, unveiled in a superseding indictment, also identify Gotbit directors Fedor Kedrov and Qawi Jalili as co-conspirators in the scheme. The firm kept detailed records of their market manipulation activities, including spreadsheets comparing artificially "Created Volume" against natural "Market Volume" in the cryptocurrency markets, prosecutors said.
Evidence demonstrates that Gotbit openly sought prospective customers with pitches outlining exactly how the service would enable them to obfuscate activities on public blockchains through multiservice manipulations. As might be expected, the firm's client list included the meme coins Saitama and Robo Inu, which face separate charges in a related pump-and-dump investigation.
The case is part of a broader crackdown on cryptocurrency market manipulation that has already resulted in four arrests and five plea agreements. Authorities have seized more than $25 million worth of cryptocurrency assets related to the investigation, which involves two other firms, ZM Quant and CLS Global, along with 15 individuals.
If convicted, Andriunin faces severe penalties: up to 20 years of imprisonment, three years of supervised release, and fines of up to $250,000 or twice the profits of the scheme.
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