Operation Token Mirrors — DOJ Crypto Market Manipulation Ring
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anchored·4ahXBr…iqAiSummary
Operation Token Mirrors is a multi-phase FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation undercover operation in which federal agents created fictitious cryptocurrency tokens — most notably the Ethereum-based 'NexFundAI' — to infiltrate and document alleged wash trading and pump-and-dump schemes offered as fee-based 'market making' services. The operation produced two coordinated enforcement waves: an initial October 2024 action by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts charging 18 individuals and entities tied to Gotbit, CLS Global, ZM Quant, and MyTrade; and a subsequent 2025–2026 action by the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California charging 10 additional foreign nationals connected to Gotbit, Vortex, Antier Solutions, and Contrarian. As of mid-2026, Gotbit founder Aleksei Andriunin has been sentenced to eight months in prison, Gotbit has been ordered to cease operations and forfeit approximately $23 million, at least three other individuals have pleaded guilty or been sentenced, and three Singapore-based executives have been extradited to the United States to face trial.
Connected Entities
1 entityNo connected entities recorded yet — this investigation is not currently linked to any other page in the index.
Timeline(16 events)
1 January 2018
Gotbit allegedly begins offering wash trading services to cryptocurrency token clients; conduct alleged in the indictment dates back to at least this year.
IRS CI / DOJ NDCA2 October 2024
FBI-created NexFundAI token launches on LBank exchange; MyTrade MM allegedly conducts millions of dollars in wash trades for the undercover token on launch day.
TRM Labs / Unchained Crypto9 October 2024
DOJ District of Massachusetts announces charges against 18 individuals and entities — including Gotbit, CLS Global, ZM Quant, and MyTrade — for market manipulation and wire fraud. Over $25 million in cryptocurrency seized and multiple trading bots shut down.
DOJ District of Massachusetts25 February 2025
Aleksei Andriunin extradited from Portugal to the United States.
CoinDesk / Yahoo Finance20 March 2025
Aleksei Andriunin and Gotbit plead guilty in federal court in Boston to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit market manipulation and wire fraud. Andriunin agrees to forfeiture; Gotbit agrees to forfeit approximately $23 million and cease operations.
DOJ District of Massachusetts25 March 2025
Gotbit employees Antoine Tsao, Ian Sofronov, and Nemanja Popov indicted in the Northern District of California (San Francisco).
IRS CI / DOJ NDCA2 June 2025
Antoine Tsao pleads guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud before Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin in Oakland.
IRS CI3 June 2025
Court enters a preliminary order of forfeiture against Antoine Tsao covering 1.2 million USDT.
TRM Labs28 August 2025
Vortex employees Gleb Gora, Sergei Ryzhkov, and Michael Vogel indicted in Oakland (Northern District of California).
IRS CI / DOJ NDCA4 September 2025
Contrarian employees Manu Singh, Kushagra Srivastava, and Vasu Sharma, and Antier Solutions employee Sabby Singh indicted in Oakland (Northern District of California).
IRS CI / DOJ NDCA2 October 2025
Gleb Gora (Vortex CEO), Manu Singh (Contrarian CEO), and Vasu Sharma (Contrarian) arrested in Singapore through coordinated action between the FBI Law Enforcement Attache's Office and Singapore Police Force.
The Star / IRS CI10 February 2026
Nemanja Popov (Gotbit account manager) sentenced in the Northern District of California; specific sentence length not confirmed in available public sources.
TRM Labs30 March 2026
Gleb Gora, Manu Singh, and Vasu Sharma make their initial court appearances in Oakland federal court following extradition from Singapore.
CoinTelegraph / The Star1 April 2026
Multiple outlets report on the Oakland court appearances; DOJ formally unseals the broader set of Northern District of California indictments.
Decrypt / CryptoTimesDecision Log
- hash: 66u7fGPp7ojsvBrkuofb57LKwMCWiywbfpKQkQX8nG6P
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (1 event). 0 of 17 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-sonnet-4-6
generated: 9/17/2026, 5:09:51 PM
last updated: 9/17/2026, 5:19:08 PM
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