Founder of Cryptocurrency Financial Services Firm 'Gotbit' Indicted for Market Manipulation and Fraud Conspiracy

BOSTON - A Russian national residing in Portugal has been indicted for his role in a wide-ranging conspiracy to manipulate cryptocurrency markets on behalf of client cryptocurrency companies.

Aleksei Andriunin, 26, was charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit market manipulation and wire fraud in a superseding indictment. The superseding indictment also charges Gotbit and two of its directors, Fedor Kedrov and Qawi Jalili, who were previously charged in an indictment unsealed on Oct. 9, 2024.

According to court documents, Gotbit was a well-known "market maker" in the cryptocurrency industry. It is alleged that between 2018 and 2024, Gotbit provided market manipulation services to create artificial trading volume for multiple cryptocurrency companies, including companies located in the United States. Aleksei Andriunin was Gotbit's Founder and Chief Executive Officer. In a 2019 interview, Andriunin allegedly described how he developed a code to "wash trade" cryptocurrencies to artificially inflate trading volume for the purpose of getting cryptocurrencies listed on CoinMarketCap (a website that published information about "trending" cryptocurrencies) and trading on larger cryptocurrency exchanges. Andriunin allegedly kept records of Gotbit's market manipulation, including spreadsheets that compared "Created Volume" from wash trades with naturally occurring "Market Volume." Andriunin and Gotbit's employees, including Jalili (Gotbit's Director of Sales) and Kedrov (Gotbit's Director of Market Making), allegedly marketed these wash trading tactics to prospective clients and explained how Gotbit used multiple accounts to avoid detection of the wash trades on the public blockchain. Gotbit allegedly made wash trades worth millions of dollars on behalf of clients and received tens of millions of dollars in proceeds for these fraudulent services. It is further alleged that Gotbit's clients included the Saitama and Robo Inu cryptocurrencies, the leadership of which have been charged separately. It is alleged that Andriunin transferred millions of dollars of Gotbit's proceeds into his personal Binance account.

The charge of wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense, restitution and forfeiture. The charge of conspiracy to commit market manipulation and wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, a fine of up to $250,000 to twice the gross gain or loss from the offense, restitution and forfeiture. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy and Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigations, Boston Division made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher J. Markham and David M. Holcomb of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit are prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in the court of law.