- Gotbit CEO Aleksei Andriunin was sentenced to 8 months in prison for orchestrating crypto wash trading schemes.
- Gotbit itself received 5 years’ probation, requiring it to halt operations during that period.
- Prosecutors allege the firm manipulated millions in token volume to mislead markets and secure exchange listings.
Aleksei Andriunin, the 26-year-old founder and CEO of crypto market maker Gotbit, was sentenced to eight months in prison by a U.S. District Court in Massachusetts on Friday. Following his release, he will serve an additional year under supervised release. Andriunin, a dual citizen of Russia and Portugal, pleaded guilty in March to charges of wire fraud and crypto market manipulation. He was arrested in Portugal in October 2024 and extradited to the U.S. earlier this year.
Gotbit Hit with Five-Year Probation and Cease of Operations
Gotbit, the company Andriunin founded, received a sentence of five years’ probation, requiring it to shut down operations during that period. Prosecutors revealed that Gotbit orchestrated wash trades to create artificial trading volume and manipulate the prices of various tokens. Between 2018 and 2024, the company reportedly provided these services to multiple cryptocurrency clients, helping them list tokens on platforms like CoinMarketCap and larger exchanges.
Prosecutors Detail Wash Trading Scheme
According to prosecutors, Andriunin openly described in a 2019 interview how he developed code to perform wash trades—fake transactions designed to simulate market activity. Gotbit employees reportedly used multiple accounts to mask these trades from blockchain observers and marketed this manipulation strategy to prospective clients. The scheme involved millions of dollars in wash trades and earned Gotbit tens of millions in client payments.
