US Federal Court in Boston Rules Against Cryptocurrency Market Maker Gotbit Consulting LLC
On June 12, the US Federal Court in Boston ruled that cryptocurrency market maker Gotbit Consulting LLC, due to years of inflated trading volume, is prohibited from operating for five years and has had approximately $23 million in assets confiscated. The 26-year-old founder, Aleksei Andriunin, was sentenced to eight months in prison and will be subject to supervision for one year after his release.
(Background: US Judge Overturns Mango Hacker Fraud Charges “Lacks Jurisdiction”: Who Can Regulate Decentralized Crimes in DeFi?)
(Supplementary Background: WSJ Reports CZ Pleads Guilty “Agrees to Provide Evidence Against Sun Yuchen”! Sun Responds: Has Good Relations with CZ and US Justice Department)
The Rise of Gotbit
Gotbit was listed in Estonia in 2018 and relocated to Lisbon, Portugal in 2021, claiming to specialize in “market-making services for low liquidity tokens.” The official website (now closed) listed over 150 cooperative projects, among which dog-themed meme coins like Robo Inu and Saitama garnered the most attention. These tokens briefly surged into the top 100 in the CoinMarketCap trading volume rankings during the 2021 bull market, with their market values skyrocketing before plunging back down, being viewed by the market as a typical case of “hype followed by dumping.”
The Department of Justice announced that from 2018 to 2024, Gotbit artificially created high trading volumes by simultaneously buying and selling through multiple accounts using internal algorithms. FBI technical analysis revealed that at peak times, false trading volume accounted for 92% of Robo Inu’s total volume, far exceeding the suspicious threshold of 8% average in exchanges. In 2019, Andriunin publicly boasted on a YouTube program:
“We can push any small coin’s daily trading volume to $50 million in just half a day.”
This video was cited as evidence in the indictment. The jury determined that Gotbit intended to manipulate token rankings, misleading investors into believing in strong liquidity, thus constituting market manipulation.
Cross-Departmental “Three Arrows” Lockdown
After the Trump administration took office, the DOJ, FBI, and SEC formed a “criminal prosecution + civil lawsuit + international extradition” strategy. In February 2025, Portuguese police arrested Andriunin at Lisbon Airport, while the SEC simultaneously filed a civil lawsuit seeking a permanent market ban and $75 million in damages. Compared to MyTrade in 2024 and CLS Global in 2025, Gotbit is the first case of a cross-border extradition in cryptocurrency market-making, demonstrating a stronger deterrent effect.
On the day of the ruling, the price of Robo Inu plummeted by 38% within 24 hours, while Saitama dropped by 31%. Several mid-sized exchanges immediately announced increased thresholds for wash trading detection and strengthened KYC measures. Analysts pointed out that in the future, projects relying solely on “high trading volume” packaging will struggle to survive, with transparency determining project longevity.
Related Reports
Hyperliquid’s 50x Whale Identity Doubts: X Account Renamed to MELANIA Has Trump Connections? ZachXBT Teases on Criminal Evidence Today
Vietnam Government Announces Ban on Telegram: Aimed at Combatting Crime! Encrypted Communication Not in Line with National Security
Bitrace 2025 Annual Cryptocurrency Crime Report: Surge in Fraud, Enhanced Effectiveness of Regulatory Freezes