Ian Sofronov
Last changed 2026-10-10 · Score recalculated — Rescored under Scoring v2, the published formula (avoid.net/scoring): 8 → 26. Problems weighed by who is responsible: the subject's own conduct −65, problems around the subject, caused by others −2.3; legitimacy credit long-running +10; no established finding that it defrauded anyone, so it stays out of the red band. Version history →
Why this score
| Every page starts at | 65 |
| The subject's own conduct | -65 |
| Problems around it, caused by others | -2.3 |
| Long-running | +10 |
| Sum | 8 |
- No established finding that it defrauded anyone, so it stays out of the red band (26 or above).
Score: 26/100 (kept between 0 and 100)
How scoring works →Summary
Ian Sofronov is a Russian national and former Sales Manager at GOTBIT Consulting LLC, a cryptocurrency market-making firm. A federal grand jury in San Francisco indicted him on March 25, 2025, on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud in connection with an alleged wash trading scheme that prosecutors say artificially inflated cryptocurrency trading volumes and prices. As of the latest available reporting, Sofronov has not been arrested and his whereabouts are unknown, while his two GOTBIT co-defendants pleaded guilty and were sentenced.
Connected Entities
1 entityNo connected entities recorded yet — this investigation is not currently linked to any other page in the index.
Timeline(9 events)
1 January 2018
GOTBIT Consulting LLC begins operating as a market-maker-for-hire, allegedly offering wash trading services to cryptocurrency token projects. Approximate start date per prosecutors.
TRM Labs research on Operation Token Mirrors1 October 2024
First wave of Operation Token Mirrors charges announced, targeting GOTBIT, ZM Quant, CLS Global, and MyTrade. GOTBIT founder Aleksei Andriunin separately indicted in the District of Massachusetts.
DOJ USAO-MA press release25 March 2025
Federal grand jury in the Northern District of California returns indictment against Ian Sofronov (Russian national, GOTBIT Sales Manager), Antoine Tsao, and Nemanja Popov on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud (case no. 25-cr-00082).
IRS Criminal Investigation press release; GovInfo court docket30 March 2025
Antoine Tsao arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
TRM Labs research on Operation Token Mirrors2 June 2025
Antoine Tsao pleads guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and is sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin.
TRM Labs research on Operation Token Mirrors1 June 2025
GOTBIT founder Aleksei Andriunin extradited from Portugal, pleads guilty to wire fraud and market manipulation, agrees to forfeit approximately $23 million in cryptocurrency (approx. $14 million USDT and $9 million USDC), and is sentenced to eight months in prison.
Yahoo Finance: Gotbit Founder Aleksei Andriunin Pleads Guilty10 February 2026
Nemanja Popov (GOTBIT co-defendant) pleads guilty and is sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin.
TRM Labs research on Operation Token Mirrors30 March 2026
DOJ publicly announces the consolidated Operation Token Mirrors charges against ten foreign nationals across four firms, including the March 2025 NDCA indictment naming Sofronov.
DOJ USAO-NDCA press release24 September 2026
Ian Sofronov has not been arrested as of this date. The criminal case against him (USA v. Tsao et al., No. 25-cr-00082) remains open in the Northern District of California. No extradition proceedings have been publicly reported.
Available public reporting as of investigation dateDecision Log
- slot 455359551 · hash 25Xds6nwP4hD9gtNTrGwseFaDLhvRrJwdXiPALd97qNE
- slot 450026000 · hash AdWDvrzAUeKg88JjdkF91emKnop7Q6iHrkq43fLoxbom
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (2 decisions). 9 of 11 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-sonnet-4-6
generated: 9/24/2026, 12:11:18 PM
last updated: 10/10/2026, 6:40:51 PM
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