The founder of Gotbit has been charged with market manipulation, and if convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison

ChainCatcher news, according to Decrypt, the U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against Aleksei Andriunin, the founder and CEO of cryptocurrency market maker Gotbit, accusing him of committing wire fraud and conspiracy to manipulate the market. It is reported that Andriunin artificially inflated cryptocurrency trading volumes through "fake trades" from 2018 to 2024 to help projects get listed on CoinMarketCap and cryptocurrency exchanges.

Prosecutors pointed out that Andriunin provided fake trading services for meme coins including Robo Inu and Saitama, with illegal proceeds transferred to his personal Binance account. Previously, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Gotbit and three other cryptocurrency companies on October 9, seizing over $25 million in cryptocurrency. If Andriunin is convicted of wire fraud, he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Other conspiracy charges could carry a maximum sentence of 5 years.

ChainCatcher previously reported that the official Gotbit account posted on X stating: "Our CEO Alex Andryunin has been arrested in Portugal. We currently have no further details, but rest assured that your account with Gotbit is safe. Our goal is to prove the innocence of the company and CEO Alex Andryunin. We are fully prepared to cooperate with the authorities, provide all necessary documents to support the investigation, and quickly resolve this misunderstanding. We will update as soon as more information is available."