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Russian Gotbit founder strikes $23M plea deal with US prosecutors

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Aleksei Andriunin, a Russian national charged with manipulating cryptocurrency through the Gotbit market maker platform, has reportedly struck a plea deal with prosecutors in the United States.

Gotbit founder and CEO Andriunin has agreed to forfeit about $23 million in Tether USDt (USDT) and Circle’s USDC (USDC) in a plea deal with Massachusetts federal prosecutors, the legal news service Law360 reported on March 19.

As part of the plea, Andriunin will plead guilty to three counts charging conspiracy to commit wire fraud and market manipulation, according to the letter signed by the defendant on March 19.

An excerpt from letters in the Gotbix founder case related to the $23 million forfeiture as part of the plea with Massachusetts prosecutors: Law360 

“Defendant understands and agrees that forfeiture shall not satisfy or affect any fine, lien, penalty, restitution, cost of imprisonment, tax liability or any other debt owed to the United States,” the letter reads.

The agreement doesn’t bind the US Attorney General

In the letter to the defendant, the US Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, Leah Foley, stressed that the agreement to forfeit $23 million is only between Andriunin and the attorney.

“It does not bind the Attorney General of the United States or any other federal, state, or local prosecuting authorities,” the letter reads.

The letter also states that the defendant acknowledges the court is not obligated to adhere to the sentencing calculations proposed by the Massachusetts attorney.

An excerpt from legal letters in the Gotbix founder case related to sentencing guidelines with Massachusetts prosecutors: Law360 

“Defendant may not withdraw defendant’s guilty plea if defendant disagrees with how the court calculates the guidelines or with the sentence the court imposes,” attorney Foley wrote.

Andriunin was extradited to the US in October 2025

Gotbit founder’s deal with Massachusetts prosecutors came months after Andriunin was extradited to the US in October 2024 after being arrested by Portuguese authorities.

Since extradition, Andriunin has appeared in a federal court in Boston, Massachusetts, where he was ordered to remain detained until further notice.

Andriunin, 26, was charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit market manipulation and wire fraud in a superseding indictment in October 2024.

Source: Alex Andriunin 

According to Massachusetts court documents, Gotbit was a crypto “market maker” that orchestrated a “widespread cryptocurrency market manipulation scheme.” The platform was registered in Belize and was said to provide artificial trading volume for global firms, including those in the US, between 2017 and 2024.

Related: Telegram founder Pavel Durov given permission to leave France

Apart from Andriunin, the criminal complaint from Massachusetts authorities in September 2024 also involved other Gotbit employees, such as marketing director Fedor Kedrov and sales director Qawi Jalili, both living in Russia.

In the plea letter, Massachusetts attorney Foley mentioned that the assets listed in the forfeiture section of the Gotbit plea agreement are solely controlled by the defendant on Gotbit’s behalf despite these assets belonging to Gotbit.

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Bitcoin whales keep buying as BTC price dip targets include $94K

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Key points:

Bitcoin whales are adding to their BTC positions while price ranges below all-time highs.

If a new market correction comes, one potential bounce level lies in the mid-$90,000 zone.

Hyperliquid trader James Wynn hints at large-volume traders shaping low-timeframe price performance.

Bitcoin (BTC) may see support only at $94,000 if a fresh BTC price correction ensues, new analysis says.

In its latest X commentary, Keith Alan, co-founder of trading resource Material Indicators, pointed to a Bitcoin bounce zone at the 21-week moving average.

Bitcoin whales jump in amid “consolidating” price

Bitcoin continues to track sideways within a $5,000 range after hitting all-time highs of $112,000, data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows.

For Alan, the market is giving off positive signals on its future trajectory, with large-volume traders adding to their BTC exposure at current levels.

“BTC is consolidating above $100k and whales are accumulating,” he said.

An accompanying chart showed increasing buy volume involving the two largest transaction classes typically associated with whale entities. It additionally confirmed $112,000 as the level attracting the highest ask liquidity as of May 27.

Bitcoin order book liquidity data with whale activity. Source: Material Indicators/X

Continuing, Alan suggested that if sellers temporarily regain control, a downside target could involve a revisit of the 21-week moving average at around $94,000.

“We are in a bull market and the trend is up, but there are no straight lines in trading and ‘up only’ is a myth. 7+ Consecutive green candles are rare, and often followed by periods of consolidation or correction,” he wrote, referring to the weekly chart. 

“If a correction comes, I expect support to hold at the trend line which currently has confluence with the 21-Week Moving Average.”BTC/USD 1-week chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Earlier, Cointelegraph reported on a more drastic BTC price correction outlook, which could mean a retracement of the entire rebound that began in April.

BTC liquidity games continue

Meanwhile, one whale in particular continues to actively broadcast his trades on social media, garnering considerable attention in the process.

Related: BTC price seeks $155K ‘trigger’ — 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week

Hyperliquid’s James Wynn made headlines by entering various long and short BTC positions involving large amounts of leverage.

His moves have become a market signal of their own, with Wynn taking to X to accuse other market participants of attempting to liquidate him by manipulating price action.

They FORCED the $BTC price DOWN to $108,700 🚨

[‼️MY EXACT LIQUIDATION PRICE‼️]

LUCKILY I WAS NOT SLEEPING OR BUSY AS THEY WOULD HAVE SUCCEEDED 😱

I INSTANTLY SAW THE RAPID DUMPING AND WAS FORCED TO START SELLING OFF MY POSITION AS FAST AS I COULD TO LOWER MY LIQUIDATION… pic.twitter.com/lT7Sv38BGQ

— James Wynn 🐳 (@JamesWynnReal) May 27, 2025

The latest data from monitoring resource HyperDash shows Wynn’s latest 40X leveraged long BTC position at an unrealized loss of $3.4 million as of May 28.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

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Fungible cryptos in secondary sales are not securities, Ripple tells SEC

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Ripple, the blockchain company behind XRP, argued that fungible cryptocurrencies are not securities when transferred in secondary transactions in a recent letter sent to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

In its May 27 letter, Ripple cited US attorney and crypto law thought leader Lewis Cohen to support its claim. In his widely cited 2022 paper, “The Ineluctable Modality of Securities Law: Why Fungible Crypto Assets Are Not Securities,” he wrote:

“[T]here is no current basis in the law relating to ‘investment contracts’ to classify most fungible crypto assets as ‘securities’ when transferred in secondary transactions.”

In his paper, Cohen explained that in secondary transactions, an investment contract transaction is generally not present. He further claimed that fungible cryptocurrencies “neither create nor represent the necessary cognizable legal relationship between” a legal entity and the holder that is the “hallmark of a security.”

Related: Banking groups ask SEC to drop cybersecurity incident disclosure rule

SEC’s “new paradigm”

Ripple also referenced SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce’s May 19 “new paradigm” speech. She said she’d been voicing her dissent with the regulator’s approach to crypto, adding:

“Having emerged from the crypto dissent years, I am glad to be able speak to you today as the head of the Commission’s Crypto Task Force about a rational and coherent path forward and a new paradigm at the SEC.”

Peirce said that the SEC’s “approach to crypto in recent years has evaded sound regulatory practice and must be corrected.” She also said that most cryptocurrencies are not securities, adding:

“Most currently existing crypto assets in the market are not [securities]. My supplemental answer is that economic realities matter and non-security crypto assets may be distributed as part of an investment contract, which is a type of security.”

Ripple’s long fight with the SEC

The SEC had viewed a large portion of digital assets as securities, with the regulator’s former chair, Gary Gensler, stating in 2023 that most of the crypto market falls under the securities bracket. This stance led to a protracted legal battle between the SEC and Ripple.

The lawsuit first began at the end of 2020, when the SEC took action against Ripple and its executives, claiming that XRP sales constituted unregistered security offerings. Still, after the government’s stance on crypto changed with the election of current US President Donald Trump, Ripple has mostly won the battle, with the SEC recently dropping its appeal against a ruling favorable to the company.

In its recent letter to the SEC, Ripple also cited a ruling in the case noting that “the court held that certain of Ripple’s historical institutional sales of XRP were investment contracts,” while the secondary sales were not. Furthermore, the judge “determined that XRP itself is not a security.”

Magazine: XRP win leaves Ripple and industry with no crypto legal precedent set

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BlackRock to join Telegram’s $1.5B bond sale: WSJ

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BlackRock, one of the world’s largest Bitcoin holders, is reportedly participating in a bond raise by crypto-friendly messenger Telegram.

Telegram is expected to raise at least $1.5 billion in a bond issue on May 28, with support from existing backers like BlackRock and Abu Dhabi’s investment firm Mubadala, The Wall Street Journal reported.

As part of the sale, Telegram is offering investors five-year bonds at a 9% yield, the report said, citing sources familiar with the matter.

Telegram plans to use the proceeds to buy back remaining debt from bonds issued in 2021, which are due to mature in March 2026.

Discounts for potential Telegram IPO

Apart from existing Telegram bondholders like BlackRock and Mubadala, the sale is also expected to bring new investors, including the US hedge fund firm Citadel.

The WSJ report came weeks after Bloomberg first reported on Telegram’s bond sale in late April, with sources claiming that the company was holding investor meetings about a bond sale worth about $2 billion to refinance its debut debt offering from 2021.

According to the Financial Times, Telegram’s new bond offering will allow investors to buy shares in a potential initial public offering at a 20% discount, mirroring the terms of previous bond sales.

This is a developing story; further information will be added as it becomes available.

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