tl;dr
Aleksei Andriunin, the 26-year-old CEO and founder of Gotbit, a crypto market-making firm, has been extradited to the US from Portugal. He faces charges including wire fraud, market manipulation, and conspiracy, as alleged by a federal grand jury in Boston. The indictment accuses Andriunin of orches...
Aleksei Andriunin, the 26-year-old CEO and founder of Gotbit, a crypto market-making firm, has been extradited to the US from Portugal. He faces charges including wire fraud, market manipulation, and conspiracy, as alleged by a federal grand jury in Boston. The indictment accuses Andriunin of orchestrating deceptive market practices and redirecting illicit proceeds to his personal account.
This case is part of a larger international crackdown on cryptocurrency fraud led by the FBI, resulting in the seizure of over $25 million in cryptocurrency assets and legal actions against 18 individuals and entities. If convicted, Andriunin could face up to 20 years for wire fraud and an additional five years for conspiracy, with potential fines and asset forfeiture.
The United States has extradited Aleksei Andriunin, the 26-year-old CEO and founder of Gotbit, a crypto market-making firm, from Portugal. A Russian national, Andriunin, now faces serious charges, including wire fraud, market manipulation, and conspiracy. A federal grand jury in Boston indicted him.
Court filings reveal that Andriunin openly acknowledged in a 2019 interview that he had engineered a code to execute “wash trades.” Wash trading is a practice where a trader buys and sells the same asset or security in a short period, creating a false appearance of high trading volume and liquidity.
Further allegations suggest that Andriunin redirected millions of dollars in illicit proceeds from Gotbit to his personal account on the crypto exchange Binance. Meanwhile, this case is part of a larger international operation to combat crypto fraud.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) led it under the name “Operation Token Mirrors.” As part of the investigation, FBI agents created a fake token named NexFundAI to trap manipulators. The US intelligence service seized more than $25 million in cryptocurrency assets and shut down several trading bots. Legal actions commenced with an indictment unsealed on October 9, 2024. The indictment charged 18 individuals and entities, with Gotbit and its two directors, Fedor Kedrov and Qawi Jalili, among those named.
Additionally, a superseding indictment on October 31, 2024, provided further details about Andriunin’s role. The indictment accused him of masterminding the conspiracy. If found guilty, Andriunin could be sentenced to up to 20 years for wire fraud. He could also receive an additional five years for conspiracy to manipulate the market and commit wire fraud. Each charge also carries potential fines of up to $250,000 or double the financial damage caused, along with supervised release, restitution, and asset forfeiture.