Gotbit
Summary
Gotbit Consulting LLC was a cryptocurrency market-making firm that operated from approximately 2018 to 2024, offering wash trading services to cryptocurrency projects seeking artificially inflated trading volumes. Founder Aleksei Andriunin pleaded guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit market manipulation in March 2025 and was sentenced to eight months in prison in June 2025, with the company ordered to forfeit approximately $23 million and placed on five years' probation with a requirement to cease operations. Three additional Gotbit employees were charged by the DOJ in March 2026 as part of Operation Token Mirrors, a coordinated undercover investigation targeting cryptocurrency market manipulation.
Connected Entities
1 entities · 10 linked investigations- + 6 more
Timeline(16 events)
2018-01-01
Gotbit begins offering wash trading services to cryptocurrency projects, per charging documents covering the period 2018 to 2024.
DOJ USAO-MA — Gotbit Sentencing Press Release2019-07-18
CoinDesk publishes interview with Aleksei Andriunin, then aged 20, in which he describes Gotbit's wash trading model and states the business is 'not entirely ethical.' Pricing disclosed: $8,000 for exchange listing, $6,000/month for volume support, $15,000 for CoinMarketCap listing.
CoinDesk — For $15K, He'll Fake Your Exchange Volume2022-01-01
Robo Inu allegedly begins paying Gotbit to artificially inflate its token's trading volume on BitMart, per charging documents.
DOJ USAO-MA — Eighteen Individuals and Entities Charged2024-04-08
Gotbit publicly announces a partnership with Hamster Kombat, describing itself as the project's 'official advisor on their web3 journey.' Hamster Kombat later denies having worked with Gotbit as a market maker.
Cryptopolitan — Hamster Kombat Denies Working with Gotbit2024-10-08
Aleksei Andriunin arrested in Portugal.
Crypto.news — Gotbit Founder Aleksei Andriunin Extradited to the US2024-10-09
U.S. federal prosecutors charge multiple market makers including Gotbit, ZM Quant, CLS Global, and MyTrade, and separately charge leaders of Robo Inu and Saitama token projects in the District of Massachusetts.
DOJ USAO-MA — Eighteen Individuals and Entities Charged2024-10-31
Federal grand jury in Boston returns indictment against Gotbit Consulting LLC, Aleksei Andriunin, Fedor Kedrov (Director of Market Making), and Qawi Jalili (Director of Sales) on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit market manipulation and wire fraud.
Decrypt — DOJ Alleges Gotbit Founder Made Tens of Millions on Wire Fraud2025-02-25
Aleksei Andriunin extradited from Portugal to the United States.
Crypto.news — Gotbit Founder Aleksei Andriunin Extradited to the US2025-03-20
Aleksei Andriunin and Gotbit Consulting LLC plead guilty in the District of Massachusetts to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit market manipulation and wire fraud. Andriunin agrees to forfeit approximately $23 million in stablecoins.
CoinDesk — Gotbit Founder Aleksei Andriunin Pleads Guilty2025-03-30
Gotbit employee Antoine Tsao arrested at JFK International Airport.
TRM Labs — Ten Fraudsters from Four Financial Services Firms Charged2025-06-02
Antoine Tsao pleads guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and is sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin in Oakland, California.
TRM Labs — Ten Fraudsters from Four Financial Services Firms Charged2025-06-03
Government seizes $1.2 million in USDT from a Gotbit wallet.
TRM Labs — Ten Fraudsters from Four Financial Services Firms Charged2025-06-13
U.S. District Court Judge Angel Kelley sentences Aleksei Andriunin to eight months in prison and one year of supervised release. Gotbit Consulting LLC is sentenced to five years' probation and required to cease operations. Approximately $22.8 million in cryptocurrency forfeited.
Decrypt — Gotbit Got Got: Founder Sentenced to Prison for Crypto Wash Trading2025-10-02
Defendants from Vortex (Gleb Gora, Sergei Ryzhkov, Michael Vogel) and Contrarian/Antier (Manu Singh, Kushagra Srivastava, Vasu Sharma, Sabby Singh) arrested in Singapore as part of Operation Token Mirrors.
TRM Labs — Ten Fraudsters from Four Financial Services Firms Charged2026-02-10
Nemanja Popov pleads guilty and is sentenced following arrest at San Francisco International Airport.
TRM Labs — Ten Fraudsters from Four Financial Services Firms Charged2026-03-30
DOJ unseals three indictments as part of Operation Token Mirrors, including the Northern District of California indictment charging Gotbit employees Antoine Tsao, Ian Sofronov, and Nemanja Popov with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
DOJ USAO-NDCA — Ten Foreign Nationals Charged in International OperationDecision Log
- #1publish⛓ pending7/29/2026, 11:16:51 PMhash: 4zaTmYCp8eooMuycSjcx43tdNfZzxRBKa6pkdrR6v6p4
19 of 19 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-sonnet-4-6
generated: 7/29/2026, 11:16:43 PM
last updated: 7/30/2026, 3:30:07 AM
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