The US Department of Justice (DoJ) continues to crack down on fraudulent crypto market makers.
On Monday, March 30, the government announced that it had filed criminal charges against 10 executives and employees of four market makers, including Gotbit, Vortex, Antier and Contrarian.
Notably, Contrarian CEO Manu Singh and his employee Vasu Sharma were arrested in Singapore and extradited to the US. Similarly, Vortex CEO Gleb Gora was extradited to the US to face alleged charges.
inside expressionUS prosecutors said:
The indictments allege that the defendants not only conspired to inflate the trading volume and price of cryptocurrencies, but also profited by selling cryptocurrencies at inflated prices to unwitting investors.
The defendants were smoked through fake tokens created by the FBI, where market makers agreed to offer ‘manipulation as a service’ to pump and dump them to unsuspecting retail traders.
Interestingly, the FBI used a similar strategy in 2024 and caught 18 people Includes some of the market makers mentioned above. In particular, Gotbit CEO Aleksei Andriunin was the key face of the 2024 operation.
The 2026 crackdown appears to have expanded investigations to other Gotbit employees and new market makers like Contrarian, Antier, and Vortex. If convicted, the defendants could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.
Crypto ‘market maker’ threat
Market makers provide ample liquidity, ensuring a smooth trading experience with little slippage.
However, some fraudulent players can easily manipulate the trading volumes and prices of the tokens they hold on the exchange.
In fact, Binance has faced several allegations regarding pump-and-dump schemes. More than 75 percent of listed tokens dropped to almost zero, and there was some bleeding even before the crypto winter deepened.
However, the exchange has recently flagged fraudulent market makers due to aggressive sales of newly listed tokens.
To strengthen honesty and trust, Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, New rules for market makers and warned of heavy penalties for cheating players.
Reacting to the DoJ’s latest pressure, Joshua Riezman, legal officer of market maker GSR, said:
Thank you, DOJ, for your periodic reminder that there are unfortunately still market makers and ‘market makers’ in crypto, and the latter are just criminal acts with better branding.
Final Summary
- The DoJ charged 10 executives and employees of crypto market makers Gotbit, Vortex, Contrarian and Antier.
- This was an extended operation following a raid in 2024 that also targeted four market makers, including Gotbit, for alleged ‘pump and dump’ schemes.
