Gotbit founder admits to market manipulation charges, forfeits $23M in plea deal

Aleksei Andriunin, the founder of Gotbit, has struck a plea deal that could allow him to avoid hefty fines and a long prison sentence.

According to court documents made public on March 20, Andruinin has officially pleaded guilty to market manipulation and wire fraud charges and has agreed to forfeit the crypto assets tied to his alleged offenses as a part of a plea deal with the US Attorney for the District of Massachusetts

If the deal is approved, he could face a reduced sentence of up to 24 months in prison instead of the potential 20-year sentence he initially risked.

What is Gotbit?

Andriunin founded Gotbit as a market-making firm that offered liquidity services to crypto projects.

However, federal prosecutors claim it was essentially a market manipulation operation, running “wash trades” to artificially inflate trading volumes and mislead investors.

According to court filings, between 2018 and 2024, Gotbit allegedly helped promote crypto projects, including US-based companies, by creating fake demand for their tokens.

Prosecutors say the firm executed fake trades, manipulated token prices, and created misleading market trends to attract real investors.

Essentially, it was a pay-to-play scheme where projects could buy visibility and credibility, even if the actual demand wasn’t there.

In a separate complaint, the SEC claimed Gotbit kept detailed records of its manipulation, tracking “created volume” versus natural “market volume.”

Andriunin himself seemed aware of the ethical gray area. In a 2019 interview, he admitted Gotbit’s business model was “not entirely ethical.”

That admission was later referenced in Justice Department filings as further evidence of intentional wrongdoing.

In October 2024, federal prosecutors charged Gotbit alongside ZM Quant, CLS Global, and MyTrade in the first-ever criminal case targeting crypto market manipulation.

In total, 14 individuals and four companies were charged, with authorities seizing over $25 million in crypto.

Andriunin will forfeit all assets

Andriunin’s plea deal requires him to hand over $23 million in stablecoins from four wallets under his control.

“Defendant agrees to promptly take all steps necessary to pass clear title to the above assets to the United States,” Lead B. Foley from the US Attorney’s office stated in court documents.

These funds, stored in USDT and USDC, were technically tied to Gotbit Consulting LLC, but court documents confirm that Andriunin was the sole operator of these wallets. 

If the court approves the deal, Andriunin will serve up to 24 months in prison, far less than the decades he initially faced, alongside a fine of “$250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense.” 

After his release, he will also be barred from participating in any crypto-related activities for three years under supervised release.

The US crackdown on Gotbit is part of a broader effort to clean up crypto markets.

As previously reported by Invezz, last year, the FBI launched its own cryptocurrency token, NexFundAI, as part of an undercover operation to expose market manipulators.

Gotbit was directly implicated in this sting, working alongside Saitama, a Massachusetts-based crypto firm, in what prosecutors describe as a $7.5 billion pump-and-dump scheme.

At the time, the DOJ alleged that Saitama collaborated with Gotbit to artificially inflate the value of its token while executives secretly sold off their holdings, making tens of millions in profits from the manipulated market.

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