Aleksei Andriunin
Russian founder and CEO of crypto market maker Gotbit. He pleaded guilty in 2025 to conspiracy to commit market manipulation and wire fraud for running wash-trading services that faked token trading volume; sentenced to eight months (time served), with Gotbit forfeiting $23M.
Also known as: Alex Andryunin
Bio
Aleksei Andriunin (also "Alex Andryunin"), a Russian national, founded and led the crypto market maker Gotbit. In a 2019 interview he described building a "trading system" to artificially inflate trading volume so tokens could get listed on CoinMarketCap and larger exchanges — the wash-trading the DOJ later charged. [1][2]
Legal outcome
Arrested in Portugal in October 2024 and extradited, Andriunin pleaded guilty in March 2025 to conspiracy to commit market manipulation and wire fraud. In June 2025 he was sentenced to eight months (deemed served via pre-trial detention) plus supervised release, and faced deportation; Gotbit forfeited about $23 million. [1][2]
Bracketed numbers refer to the numbered sources listed below.
Linked scams & cases
Sources (2)
See also
- Blockchain Terminal (BCT)TokensA 2017–2018 ICO (BCT tokens, ~$30M) for a 'Blockchain Terminal' — a Bloomberg-style crypto trading terminal. The SEC and DOJ said convicted ex-hedge-funder Boaz Manor secretly ran it under a fake identity ('Shaun MacDonald'), using associate Edith Pardo as a front, and lied about the product's adoption.
- Dropil (DROP)TokensAn ICO for the DROP token built around a fake 'Dex' trading bot. The SEC said it raised ~$1.9M while claiming $54M from 34,000 investors, and that the founders falsified evidence during the probe. Founders Jeremy McAlpine and Zachary Matar pleaded guilty to securities fraud (36 and 30 months).
- Veritaseum (VERI)Tokens
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