By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The founder of cryptocurrency market maker Gotbit was indicted for his alleged role in a wide-ranging conspiracy to manipulate cryptocurrency markets on behalf of client cryptocurrency companies, the U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday.
Aleksei Andriunin, 26, was charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit market manipulation and wire fraud in a superseding indictment, the Justice Department said in a statement.
The U.S. Justice Department says that between 2018 and 2024, when Andriunin was the firm's CEO, Gotbit provided market manipulation services to create artificial trading volume for multiple cryptocurrency companies, including companies located in the United States.
The superseding indictment also charged Gotbit and two of its directors, Fedor Kedrov and Qawi Jalili, who were previously charged in an indictment unsealed on Oct. 9.
Gotbit, Andriunin, Kedrov and Jalili could not immediately be contacted.
If convicted of wire fraud, Andriunin faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. If convicted of conspiracy to commit market manipulation and wire fraud, he faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, the Justice Department said.
Federal prosecutors said on Oct. 9 they had charged crypto firms Gotbit, ZM Quant, CLS Global and the leaders and employees of those and other companies in a takedown that led to four arrests, agreements by five people to plead guilty and the seizure of over $25 million worth of cryptocurrency.