U.S. District Court Ruling on Aleksei Andriunin
In a significant ruling from the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, Aleksei Andriunin, the founder and CEO of Gotbit, has been sentenced to eight months behind bars for his role in manipulating cryptocurrency markets.
This decision, reported on June 13 by The Block, also includes a one-year term of supervised release following his prison sentence.
Fraudulent Activities and Impact
The court found that Andriunin and his team at Gotbit engaged in fraudulent activities to artificially inflate trading volumes of various crypto projects between 2018 and 2024. They employed sophisticated coding techniques and created numerous accounts to fabricate on-chain trading activity, thereby assisting projects in gaining visibility on platforms like CoinMarketCap and securing listings with prominent exchanges.
Prosecutors indicated that these illicit behaviors allowed Gotbit to rake in tens of millions of dollars.
Consequences for Gotbit
In addition to Andriunin’s sentence, Gotbit itself has been placed on a five-year probation, during which it is barred from conducting any business related to these deceptive practices.
Legal Proceedings
Andriunin’s legal troubles began when he was apprehended in Portugal in October 2024; he was extradited to the United States in February 2025 and subsequently signed a plea deal in March of this year.
This case highlights the ongoing challenges in regulating the cryptocurrency market and the lengths some individuals will go to manipulate it for profit.
