Gotbit CEO Sentenced for Crypto Market Manipulation

According to Odaily, Aleksei Andriunin, founder and CEO of Gotbit, has been sentenced to eight months in prison by a Massachusetts district court for manipulating the cryptocurrency market and conducting millions of dollars in wash trades. Following his imprisonment, Andriunin will be subject to one year of supervised release. Prosecutors revealed that from 2018 to 2024, Andriunin and the Gotbit team provided services to multiple crypto projects, creating false trading volumes through code and multi-account operations to fabricate on-chain activity. This strategy helped projects gain visibility on CoinMarketCap and secure listings on major exchanges, earning Gotbit tens of millions of dollars. Additionally, Gotbit has been sentenced to five years of probation, during which it is prohibited from continuing related operations. Prosecutors stated that Andriunin was arrested in Portugal in October 2024 and extradited to the United States in February 2025, where he signed a plea agreement in March.