Gotbit Consulting LLC and its founder, Aleksei Andriunin, were sentenced for employing wash trading to manipulate crypto markets, inflating trading volumes of various cryptocurrencies for clients. The Massachusetts U.S. District Court imposed an eight-month prison sentence on Andriunin and ordered Gotbit to forfeit $23 million in cryptocurrency. Both were charged in 2024 with market manipulation, wire fraud, and conspiracy as part of a wider crackdown by the Department of Justice, which included charges against other firms. Gotbit admitted to creating fake trading volume, utilizing software to execute trades across multiple accounts to simulate legitimate activity. This manipulation was aimed at increasing the visibility of client tokens on platforms like CoinMarketCap, which misleadingly influenced investors. Andriunin's reduction in sentence was attributed to the difficulties in calculating the overall financial harm caused by the scheme.

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