Gotbit Founder Pleads Guilty—$23M in Crypto Forfeited in US Fraud Crackdown

Russian national and Gotbit founder, Alex Andryunin, has entered into a plea agreement with US prosecutors in connection to charges of wire fraud and cryptocurrency market manipulation.

The agreement, signed with the US Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, requires Andryunin to forfeit approximately $22.9 million in stablecoins—$18.7 million in USDT and $4.2 million in USDC—alongside other assets tied to the case.

The Plea Deal and Sentencing

According to court filings, the aforementioned funds belonged to Gotbit, a now-defunct market-making and cryptocurrency consulting firm, but were solely controlled by Andryunin.

As part of the deal, he has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and market manipulation, along with two additional counts of wire fraud. Initially, these charges carried a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison, fines, and supervised release.

However, under the terms of the plea agreement, the prosecution will recommend a reduced sentence of up to 24 months in prison, followed by 36 months of supervised release. The final decision rests with the court, which is not bound by the agreement and will determine restitution at sentencing.

Aleksei Andriunin, the founder of Gotbit, has reached a plea agreement with U.S. authorities, agreeing to forfeit $23 million in cryptocurrency assets in exchange for a settlement on market manipulation charges. Andriunin originally faced up to 20 years in prison on charges…

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) March 20, 2025

Legal Consequences and Future Restrictions

In addition, as part of the plea arrangement, Andryunin has agreed to restrictions preventing him from participating in any cryptocurrency issuance, purchase, or sale on US trading platforms.

He also cannot appeal the court’s final sentencing decision, making the guilty plea binding. Notably, Andryunin was handed over to the United States last month after being arrested in Portugal last October.

His indictment followed an investigation into an alleged scheme in which several individuals created crypto firms, misrepresented their cryptocurrencies, and manipulated trading volumes to artificially inflate token prices.

Prosecutors argue that the scheme led to financial losses for investors who purchased tokens at inflated prices before their values eventually dropped.

While the prosecution acknowledged that the total damages from the fraudulent activities could not be precisely determined, they emphasized that the impact on market participants was substantial. The attorney wrote:

Specifically, the scheme caused reasonably foreseeable pecuniary harm to dispersed market participants who purchased cryptocurrencies at fraudulently inflated prices and lost money after those prices later dropped, once the prices of those cryptocurrencies were no longer artificially inflated. However, neither these losses nor the gain that resulted from the offense can reasonably be estimated.

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