Aleksei Andriunin, the founder of Gotbit, made a plea deal with U.S. regulators to surrender $23 million worth of crypto assets related to accusations of market manipulation.
Through his involvement with Gotbit, Andriunin inflicted financial damage to Generator Network members who purchased cryptocurrency at prices artificially inflated by his fraudulent activities according to documents obtained by Law360.
Gotbit founder was recently extradited to the United States during late February after Portuguese officials took him into custody in December 2022.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, the defendant might receive full immunity from imprisonment while forfeiture remains the only financial penalty. However, the court retains final discretion over sentencing terms.
Andriunin could have received a potential 20-year prison term because of wire fraud along with the crime of conspiracy to manipulate financial markets. Gotbit was one of four cryptocurrency firms charged for crypto market manipulation in October 2019.
A total of $23 million worth of assets comes under civil forfeiture through the four wallets controlled by Andriunin that contain stablecoins from Tether and Circle.
Federal prosecutors believe Gotbit functioned as a seasoned market manipulation operation through 2018 until 2024 when it provided price-raising token services to crypto projects both inside and outside the United States.
The court documents claim Gotbit conducted a large number of deceptive trading activities that purported to boost market activity.