Key Takeaways
- Prosecutors allege that Gotbit provided fraudulent trading services to artificially boost the market activity of various crypto projects, including some based in the United States.
- The U.S. government has classified Gotbit as a key player in crypto market manipulation.
Aleksei Andriunin, the 26-year-old founder of crypto market-making firm Gotbit, has been extradited from Portugal to the United States to face charges related to market manipulation and wire fraud. Andriunin, a Russian national, was arrested in Portugal on October 8, 2024, and arrived in the U.S. on February 25, 2025. He made his initial court appearance in Boston, where he was ordered detained pending a later hearing.
Andriunin, along with Gotbit and two of its executives, Fedor Kedrov and Qawi Jalili, was indicted by a federal grand jury on October 31, 2024. Prosecutors allege that Gotbit provided fraudulent trading services to artificially boost the market activity of various crypto projects, including some based in the United States. These activities, which reportedly took place between 2018 and 2024, aimed to manipulate trading volumes to make crypto appear more popular than they actually were.
According to court filings, Andriunin and his firm used software to conduct “wash trading,” a practice where the same entity repeatedly buys and sells assets to create a false impression of market demand. Prosecutors claim that Andriunin once described in a 2019 interview how Gotbit developed code to manipulate crypto trading volume to secure listings on platforms like CoinMarketCap and major exchanges.
Gotbit allegedly generated millions of dollars through these deceptive tactics, receiving payments from crypto projects seeking to inflate their visibility. The indictment further states that the firm used multiple accounts to avoid detection, with its employees actively promoting these services to potential clients. Andriunin himself is accused of transferring millions of dollars in proceeds from these operations into his personal Binance account.
The U.S. government has classified Gotbit as a key player in crypto market manipulation. Federal investigators say that in addition to the fraudulent trading practices, Gotbit misled investors by creating a false sense of demand for specific digital assets. These actions allegedly resulted in substantial financial gains for the company while deceiving both investors and the broader market.
The FBI’s investigation into Gotbit reportedly intensified after the agency launched NexFundAI (NEXF), a fake crypto token designed to expose fraudulent trading practices. This initiative helped authorities uncover the extent of Gotbit’s activities and led to the charges against its executives.
If convicted, Andriunin faces significant legal penalties. The charge of wire fraud carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, along with fines up to $250,000 or twice the amount of financial gain from the crime.
The charge of conspiracy to commit market manipulation and wire fraud carries up to five years in prison and similar financial penalties. A federal judge will determine his sentence based on U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. Andriunin’s next court hearing has not yet been scheduled.
