Andryunin Aleksei

Biography

2024: Fraud and money laundering charges

On October 9, 2024, the US Department of Justice announced that in Portugal, at the request of the US authorities, Russian Alexei Andryunin, the founder and CEO of the cryptocurrency market maker Gotbit, was detained. He is charged with fraud and money laundering.

The Ministry of Justice said in a statement that between 2018 and 2024, Gotbit provided market manipulation and fictitious trading services to several cryptocurrency companies, including US firms. The Gotbit service allegedly engaged in illegal transactions worth millions of dollars on behalf of customers and received tens of millions of dollars in proceeds for these illegal services.

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Фото: Freepik

It is noted that 26-year-old Andryunin has developed a code for fictitious trading and artificial overestimation of the volume of cryptocurrency trading. It tracked Gotbit's market manipulation, including through spreadsheets that compared "created volume" from sham deals to natural "market volume." At the same time, other Gotbit employees told potential customers about fictitious trading tactics and ways to avoid detection.

Andrunin was arrested on October 8, 2024 and, as of this date, is awaiting extradition to the United States. He is charged with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit market manipulation and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

This investigation, the first of its kind, identified numerous fraudsters in the cryptocurrency industry. Fictitious trading has long been banned in financial markets, and cryptocurrency is no exception. Our department will aggressively pursue fraud, including in the cryptocurrency industry, says acting US Attorney Joshua Levy[1]

2025

Extradition from Portugal to US on fraud and money laundering charges

On February 26, 2025 American Ministry of Justice , he announced that Portugal a Russian citizen Alexei Andryunin, the founder of a cryptocurrency market maker company, had been extradited from the United States. Gotbit He faces fraud charges and. money laundering

The materials of the US Department of Justice say that the Gotbit platform from 2018 to 2024 offered customers "market manipulation services" to artificially create liquidity for little-known cryptocurrencies. It is alleged that Andrunin developed a special program code for "fictitious trading in cryptocurrencies" in order to bring tokens to the catalog of the popular aggregator site CoinMarketCap and achieve listing on large exchanges. Andrunin and Gotbit employees including Kavi Jalili (Gotbit sales director) and Fedor Kedrova (Gotbit marketing director) allegedly promoted these sham trading tactics to potential customers.

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Фото: Freepik

According to the investigation, the Gotbit platform used several accounts to bypass the mechanisms for detecting fictitious transactions. At the same time, hundreds of millions of dollars worth of transactions were carried out on behalf of customers, and Gotbit itself received tens of millions of dollars in revenue. In addition, it is reported that Andrunin transferred part of Gotbit's funds to his personal Binance account, and also used structures in offshore jurisdictions to conceal the origin of the money.

Andryunin faces charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit market manipulation. Under the first paragraph, he faces a sentence of imprisonment of up to 20 years and a fine of up to $250 thousand or in the amount of double the amount of damage. The second count carries up to five years in prison and a similar fine.^[2]

Guilty plea to fraud

The founder of the cryptocurrency service Gotbit , Alexei Andryunin, pleaded guilty to fraud and market manipulation as part of the deal with. In US Department of Justice accordance cryptocurrency with the agreement concluded in March 2025, the US authorities will confiscate assets worth $23 million from him.

According to the US Department of Justice, Andrunin was detained on October 6, 2024 in Portugal and handed over to the US authorities on February 25, 2025. He faces charges of fraud and market manipulation. The founder of Gotbit, along with other defendants in the criminal case, conducted fictitious transactions (wash trading) to artificially increase the volume of trading in memkoins and little-known tokens.

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Фото: Freepik

Earlier in an interview with Coindesk, Andrunin said that he had developed a special code for wash trading, which Gotbit used when working with customers.

To prove the fact of fictitious bidding, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted its own operation. The agents launched the NexFundAI token and, having registered the company of the same name, entered into an agreement with Gotbit to "create liquidity." After the conclusion of the contract, NexFundAI's trading volume rose sharply, and then fell just as quickly, which confirmed the use of wash trading.

As part of a court deal, cryptocurrencies are confiscated from Andryunin for a total of $22.89 million. Of this amount, about $18.7 million - in USDT stablecoins and almost $4.2 million - in USDC. These funds do not include fines, liens, penalties, damages, jail costs, tax liabilities or any other kind of debt owed to the United States.

The Russian also agreed to any other confiscation in the case, which could involve vehicles, money or other personal property, and waived any objections and claims.

Andryunin pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and market manipulation, as well as two additional counts of wire fraud. On the first count, he faced up to five years in prison, on the other two - up to 20 years. All charges also relied on fines, damages and confiscation of property, and after prison - another three years probation.

After admitting guilt, the prosecutor agreed to recommend a sentence of imprisonment for up to two years and three years probation. In connection with the confiscation of property, the prosecutor proposed not to impose a fine on Andryunin, but to oblige him to compensate for the damage, the amount of which will be determined at the sentencing.^[3]

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