Aleksei Andriunin, founder of Gotbit Consulting LLC, has been sentenced to eight months in prison for using wash trading to artificially inflate the trading volume of cryptocurrencies on behalf of clients. The sentencing took place in Massachusetts, where the court ordered Gotbit to forfeit $23 million in seized cryptocurrency as part of a plea agreement. This case is part of a broader crackdown by the Department of Justice on digital asset fraud, with Gotbit being the third crypto market maker convicted for such offenses. Between 2018 and 2024, Gotbit provided manipulative trading services that involved creating fake trading volume for multiple cryptocurrencies, leading to financial harm for investors who purchased overvalued assets. The DOJ stated that Andriunin developed software enabling trades between controlled accounts to simulate legitimate market activity, highlighting the extensive nature of the manipulation involved.

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