Gotbit founder to forfeit $23m in crypto in exchange for no prison time as part of plea deal

• Alex Andryunin has agreed to hand over $18.7 million in USDT and $4.2 million in USDC
• Andryunin faced up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 for his actions
• As part of the plea deal, he now faces a reduced sentence of up to 24 months and 36 months of supervised release

Gotbit’s founder has agreed to a plea deal that will result in the forfeiture of $23 million in stablecoins in connection with market manipulation charges.

Alex Andryunin, a Russian national, reached an agreement with the US Attorney for the District of Massachusetts on March 18. According to court documents, Andryunin is expected to hand over $18.7 million in USDT and $4.2 million in USDC as part of the deal.

The documents state that Andryunin pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and market manipulation. He also pleaded guilty to two separate counts of wire fraud. For his actions, he originally faced up to 20 years in prison, supervised release of up to three years, fines of $250,000, restitution, and forfeiture.

However, following the plea agreement, he now faces a reduced sentence of no more than 24 months, 36 months of supervised release, no fine because of the forfeiture, and restitution in an amount to be determined at sentencing.

Extradited to the US

Andryunin was extradited to the US in February to face market manipulation charges following his arrest in October 2024 in Portugal.

According to the Department of Justice, Gotbit “provided market manipulation services to create artificial trading volume for multiple cryptocurrency companies.” Many of these were based in the US.

The crimes are alleged to have taken place between 2018 and 2024. Andryunin is accused of developing a code to “wash trade” cryptocurrencies to artificially inflate their trading volume to get them listed on CoinMarketCap.

Andriunin and Gotbit’s employees were accused of marketing these wash trade tactics to prospective clients. Gotbit is alleged to have made wash trades worth millions of dollars on behalf of clients while receiving tens of millions in proceeds in connection with the fraudulent services.