Russian Crypto Mastermind Extradited to U.S. for Alleged Market Manipulation

Gotbit founder Aleksei Andriunin, a 26-year-old Russian national, was extradited to the U.S. on Tuesday to face fraud charges. The U.S. Department of Justice announced that Andriunin is accused of participating in a "wide-ranging conspiracy" to manipulate token prices for paying client cryptocurrency companies.

Andriunin was arrested in Portugal last October and subsequently indicted by a Boston grand jury on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit market manipulation and wire fraud. The indictment also charged Gotbit itself, as well as two of its directors, Fedor Kedrov and Qawi Jalili, both also of Russia. The charges carry a combined maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.

Between 2018 and 2024, prosecutors allege that Gotbit provided market manipulation services for hire, offering their token price-inflating services to a variety of crypto companies, including those based in the U.S. Andriunin admitted in a 2019 interview with CoinDesk that his business was "not entirely ethical," a statement referenced in the Department of Justice's announcement.

According to court documents, Gotbit received "tens of millions of dollars in proceeds" from their fraudulent activity. Andriunin is accused of transferring millions of dollars of Gotbit's proceeds into his personal Binance account.

Andriunin made an initial appearance before a Boston judge on Tuesday. His next hearing has not yet been scheduled.