The founder and CEO of cryptocurrency market-making firm Gotbit, Aleksei Andriunin pleaded guilty on Friday to U.S. charges of market manipulation and wire fraud.
Prosecutors accused Andriunin of orchestrating a scheme to artificially inflate trading volumes for digital tokens on behalf of client companies.
The Russian national and his company entered their guilty pleas in a federal court in Boston, just weeks after Andriunin, 26, was extradited from Portugal, where he had been living prior to his arrest in October. His prosecution is part of Operation Token Mirrors, a groundbreaking FBI investigation into cryptocurrency fraud that led to charges against 15 individuals and three firms.
Under the terms of his plea deal, prosecutors have agreed to recommend a prison sentence of up to two years when Andriunin is sentenced on June 16. Gotbit has also agreed to forfeit approximately $23 million in cryptocurrency.
Prosecutors allege that between 2018 and 2024, Gotbit engaged in “wash trading”—a deceptive practice that creates the illusion of high trading activity to attract investors. Andriunin had previously admitted in a 2019 interview that his firm developed software to execute these sham trades, helping digital tokens secure listings on major cryptocurrency exchanges.
Gotbit allegedly conducted wash trades worth millions of dollars and collected tens of millions in fees for its services, working with cryptocurrencies such as Saitama and Robo Inu. Authorities have also charged individuals connected to these digital assets.
