Federal Prosecutors Charge Crypto Market Manipulators

According to CoinDesk, federal prosecutors have charged two purported market makers, several crypto projects, and over a dozen individuals with manipulating various crypto markets. The charges allege that these entities profited from fees and selling manipulated coins at elevated values. The charging documents, unsealed on Wednesday, reveal that Gotbit and ZM Quant engaged in wash trading of various tokens to create the illusion of legitimate activity. They sold these tokens at artificially inflated prices, marketed them on various platforms, and convinced exchanges to allow them to buy tokens with reduced fees. Prosecutors claim that both Gotbit and ZM Quant publicly presented themselves as legitimate market makers offering legal services, while privately providing illegal services, including wash trading. In Gotbit’s case, the illegal activities were not entirely private. In 2019, Gotbit co-founder Alexey Andryunin, then a 20-year-old college sophomore, explained to CoinDesk how the wash trading services worked. He admitted that Gotbit was not registered in any jurisdiction because it was “not entirely ethical.” ZM Quant was registered in the British Virgin Islands, but its employees named in the indictment were based in Hong Kong. Gotbit's employees are believed to be Russian. The manipulated tokens included Robo Inu, which saw a price increase after the indictment was unsealed. Other named defendants include VZZN, NextFundAI, and Saitama. According to the indictments, each token, including Robo Inu, is classified as a security. Several individuals behind these projects, including Robo Inu founder Vy Pham, have also been named as defendants. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has unveiled parallel civil charges against Gotbit and its employee director Fedor Kedrov, a Russian resident.