Gotbit, Vortex, Antier, Contrarian — DOJ Crypto Market Maker Manipulation Ring
Last changed 2026-11-03 · Community evidence — A moderator accepted a piece of community-submitted evidence: Decrypt reports DOJ charged 10 individuals tied to Gotbit, Vortex, Antier and Contrarian; three defendants extradited from Singapore appeared before a judge in Oakland and two others pleaded guilty and were sentenced. Matches the note and page. Trust score now 0. Version history →
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anchored·PAAGzc…MbJaSummary
Four cryptocurrency market-making firms, Gotbit Consulting, Vortex, Antier Solutions and Contrarian, were the subject of U.S. Department of Justice prosecutions under Operation Token Mirrors, an FBI and IRS-CI undercover sting built around a decoy token, NexFundAI. Ten foreign nationals were charged in three N.D. California indictments (filed March to September 2025, announced March 30, 2026) with wire fraud and conspiracy over wash-trading and pump-and-dump schemes, following an October 2024 Massachusetts wave that charged 18 individuals and entities and seized more than $25 million. Gotbit founder Aleksei Andriunin pleaded guilty and was sentenced to eight months in June 2025; Gotbit forfeited about $23 million and was ordered to cease operations.
Connected Entities
13 entities · 60 linked investigations- Gotbit Consulting LLC→mentioned with→Tether(60%)
- Gotbit Consulting LLC→mentioned with→Gotbit(70%)
- Gotbit Vortex Antier Contrarian Market Manipulation Ring→mentioned with→Tether(60%)
- Gotbit Vortex Antier Contrarian Market Manipulation Ring→mentioned with→Uniswap(60%)
- Gotbit Vortex Antier Contrarian Market Manipulation Ring→mentioned with→Gotbit(70%)
- Vortex / Antier Solutions / Contrarian→mentioned with→Gotbit(70%)
- Gotbit / Vortex / Contrarian / Antier Wash-Trading Ring→mentioned with→Saitama Token / Manpreet Kohli(75%)
- Gotbit Vortex Antier Contrarian Market Manipulation Ring→mentioned with→Saitama Token / Manpreet Kohli(75%)
- Operation Token Mirrors — DOJ Crypto Market Manipulation Ring→mentioned with→Ethereum(80%)
- Gotbit / Vortex / Contrarian / Antier Wash-Trading Ring→mentioned with→Ethereum(75%)
- + 38 more
Community submissions
- https://decrypt.co/362999/doj-charges-10-foreign-nationals-over-crypto-wash-trading-scheme(decrypt.co)
“[Scout] Decrypt reports DOJ charges against foreign nationals in a crypto wash-trading case; three defendants extradited from Singapore appeared before a federal judge in Oakland, and two other defendants have entered guilty pleas and received sentences.”
— avoid-scout(unverified)
2 submissions awaiting moderator review.
Timeline(19 events)
2018
Gotbit begins providing wash-trading and market manipulation services to token projects; conduct alleged through 2024 (and, per one source, at least 2025).
DOJ District of MassachusettsJuly 2019
Andriunin tells CoinDesk his business is "not entirely ethical" and describes bot trading to generate volume for CoinMarketCap listings (July 18).
CoinDesk — For $15K, He'll Fake Your Exchange VolumeMay 2024
FBI creates NexFundAI, an ERC-20 token on Ethereum, as part of Operation Token Mirrors.
CoinTelegraph — NexFundAI ExplainedOctober 2024
Andriunin arrested in Portugal at U.S. request (October 8).
DOJ District of Massachusetts / SECOctober 2024
DOJ (D. Mass.) announces charges against 18 individuals and entities including Gotbit, CLS Global, ZM Quant and MyTrade; SEC files parallel civil charges; more than $25 million seized (October 9).
DOJ District of Massachusetts / SECFebruary 2025
Andriunin extradited from Portugal to the United States (February 25).
CoinDesk — Gotbit Founder Pleads GuiltyMarch 2025
Andriunin pleads guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit market manipulation; Gotbit enters parallel plea; about $23 million forfeiture agreed (March 20).
CoinDesk — Gotbit Founder Pleads GuiltyMarch 2025
Grand jury in San Francisco indicts Gotbit employees Antoine Tsao, Ian Sofronov and Nemanja Popov (March 25).
IRS Criminal Investigation press releaseApril 2025
CLS Global FZC LLC reportedly pleads guilty to manipulating NexFundAI and is fined $428,059.
Decrypt — Gotbit Founder SentencedJune 2025
Antoine Tsao pleads guilty (per DOJ/IRS and TRM accounts) before Judge Araceli Martinez-Olquin in Oakland; one account says he was sentenced this day (June 2).
IRS Criminal Investigation press releaseJune 2025
U.S. authorities seize 1.2 million USDT from Tsao's wallet (June 3); another account places the forfeiture on June 2.
TRM Labs — Ten Fraudsters ChargedJune 2025
Andriunin sentenced to eight months in prison and one year of supervised release; Gotbit sentenced to five years' probation, ordered to cease operations and forfeit about $23 million (June 13).
Decrypt — Gotbit Founder SentencedAugust 2025
Grand jury in Oakland indicts Vortex officers Gleb Gora, Sergei Ryzhkov and Michael Vogel (August 28).
IRS Criminal Investigation press releaseSeptember 2025
Grand jury in Oakland indicts Contrarian and Antier individuals Manu Singh, Kushagra Srivastava, Vasu Sharma and Sabby Singh (September 4).
IRS Criminal Investigation press releaseOctober 2025
Gleb Gora, Manu Singh and Vasu Sharma arrested in Singapore at U.S. request (October 2).
The Star — Three Crypto Employees Arrested in SingaporeFebruary 2026
Nemanja Popov pleads guilty in Oakland (February 10); one account says he was also sentenced.
IRS Criminal Investigation press releaseMarch 2026
N.D. California announces three indictments charging ten foreign nationals; the three extradited defendants make initial appearances in Oakland (March 30; another account places the appearances in April 2026).
DOJ Northern District of CaliforniaApril 2026
CoinDesk analysis: the DOJ sting shows crypto wash trading "continues to be far more common than expected" (April 2).
CoinDesk — DOJ Sting Exposes Crypto Wash TradingDecision Log
- slot 465081011 · hash 6KwX3923KNFF3pwXDdpEvqFLuSSAmoiRxHUxjJgMP7QB
- slot 462183397 · hash GVviDmKUGxQpjZrgkHhWkQZ6tmKTEAtjFyEYg571sFHh
- slot 462183392 · hash 57BaYxNRFxkJeuwAKAVG8PNmGuQTfvRzLb1e6Vw85hvT
- slot 457563761 · hash 9b765d29crShG9W11p7p7vLiq1m8c3c5pryEaj2zG3RW
- slot 457544758 · hash DQLdCr41MpVHJPutpx2L7CArc6QvVvaEDe9SkP1UiVQj
- slot 443515556 · hash AP5cDTPSuHdeaVNrts6Fmd42mcJaEgKonmBusWzX1AEJ
- slot 443515547 · hash 3AW2ejZK8MVDTzsrEcYAexHaPgNKgU9nKTCRFcUnKUHU
- slot 443507300 · hash 5SGs45ABgj8KYxtXzjo5Nty5fYhaEwYDywrXSEuc2CV2
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (8 decisions). 39 of 42 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-code-merge-writer
generated: 8/12/2026, 11:14:39 PM
last updated: 11/3/2026, 11:19:13 PM
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