Aleksei Andriunin, 26, of Russia and Portugal, a Russian national who led a major cryptocurrency market manipulation operation has been sentenced to eight months in US federal prison, following a years-long investigation into fraudulent trading practices in the crypto industry.
In addition to the prison term, Andriunin will serve one year of supervised release. He pleaded guilty in March to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit market manipulation and wire fraud.
Andriunin was the founder and CEO of Gotbit, a company that promoted itself as a “market maker” for crypto assets. Between 2018 and 2024, Gotbit provided services that artificially inflated the trading volume and price of cryptocurrencies using a technique known as “wash trading.” Prosecutors said the goal was to make tokens appear popular and boost their chances of being listed on major platforms such as CoinMarketCap and large exchanges.
In a 2019 interview, Andriunin openly described building algorithms to carry out these fake trades, using multiple accounts to avoid detection on public blockchains.
Gotbit was ordered to forfeit roughly $23 million in seized cryptocurrency and sentenced to five years of probation, during which it must cease all operations. Federal prosecutors said the company’s manipulative tactics defrauded both investors and trading platforms.
Andriunin was arrested in Portugal on October 8, 2024, after the FBI set up a fake crypto token to expose his services. He was extradited to the US on February 25, 2025.
Gotbit and Andriunin were indicted in October 2024, alongside two company directors, Fedor Kedrov and Qawi Jalili, who also face criminal charges.
Gotbit’s services were used by several cryptocurrency projects, including Robo Inu and Saitama, whose leaders were charged in separate cases last year.
This marks the third case resulting from a broader federal crackdown on illegal crypto market manipulation. Other firms, including MyTrade and CLS Global FZC LLC, have also faced criminal charged after being caught as part of the same operation.
