Gotbit Founder Indicted: DOJ Exposes $25 Million Crypto Manipulation Scheme
The post Gotbit Founder Indicted: DOJ Exposes $25 Million Crypto Manipulation Scheme appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. The US Department of Justice has charged one of the founders of crypto firm Gotbit, Aleksei Andriunin, along with several associates and companies, in a significant crackdown on cryptocurrency market manipulation. The indictment, publicly announced on October 9, 2024, has accused 14 people and four entities of fraudulent activities inflating the trading volume for various cryptocurrencies, including some popular memecoins and even Bitcoin. According to federal prosecutors, from 2018 until 2024, Gotbit and its executives facilitated a scheme to create the appearance of trading volumes for its clients to make it appear that demand existed for certain tokens when in actuality, it didn’t. So far, more than $25 million worth of tokens have been seized, and roughly 60 cryptocurrency tokens are implicated in the scheme, which has been deactivated as part of the sprawling DOJ investigation tagged “Operation Token Mirrors.” Source: X The Allegations Against Gotbit Andriunin, 26, is being indicted on counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit market manipulation, each carrying a maximum of 20 years in prison. Per indictments by the DOJ, Gotbit offered illegal services, including wash trading—an activity considered unethical when an entity buys and sells an asset at the same time with the intention of giving a false appearance of actual trading. According to the indictment, Gotbit’s tactics included maintaining multiple accounts to avoid detection on public blockchains. The firm’s executives communicated via private chat platforms, discussing strategies to boost token volumes. For instance, Telegram messages revealed plans to inflate the trading volume of the Robo Inu token to make it appear trending on platforms like CoinMarketCap. Collaborators and Techniques The indictment also names two of Gotbit’s directors, Fedor Kedrov and Qawi Jalili, highlighting a broader conspiracy involving other market makers, including ZM Quant and CLS Global. These companies reportedly profited from manipulating…
The post Gotbit Founder Indicted: DOJ Exposes $25 Million Crypto Manipulation Scheme appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.
The US Department of Justice has charged one of the founders of crypto firm Gotbit, Aleksei Andriunin, along with several associates and companies, in a significant crackdown on cryptocurrency market manipulation. The indictment, publicly announced on October 9, 2024, has accused 14 people and four entities of fraudulent activities inflating the trading volume for various cryptocurrencies, including some popular memecoins and even Bitcoin. According to federal prosecutors, from 2018 until 2024, Gotbit and its executives facilitated a scheme to create the appearance of trading volumes for its clients to make it appear that demand existed for certain tokens when in actuality, it didn’t. So far, more than $25 million worth of tokens have been seized, and roughly 60 cryptocurrency tokens are implicated in the scheme, which has been deactivated as part of the sprawling DOJ investigation tagged “Operation Token Mirrors.” Source: X The Allegations Against Gotbit Andriunin, 26, is being indicted on counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit market manipulation, each carrying a maximum of 20 years in prison. Per indictments by the DOJ, Gotbit offered illegal services, including wash trading—an activity considered unethical when an entity buys and sells an asset at the same time with the intention of giving a false appearance of actual trading. According to the indictment, Gotbit’s tactics included maintaining multiple accounts to avoid detection on public blockchains. The firm’s executives communicated via private chat platforms, discussing strategies to boost token volumes. For instance, Telegram messages revealed plans to inflate the trading volume of the Robo Inu token to make it appear trending on platforms like CoinMarketCap. Collaborators and Techniques The indictment also names two of Gotbit’s directors, Fedor Kedrov and Qawi Jalili, highlighting a broader conspiracy involving other market makers, including ZM Quant and CLS Global. These companies reportedly profited from manipulating…
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