Gotbit's founder reached a plea agreement with U.S. authorities and will have $23 million in encryption assets seized related to market manipulation charges.

[Gotbit founder reaches plea agreement with U.S. authorities, $23 million in crypto assets linked to market manipulation charges to be seized] Gotbit founder Aleksei Andriunin has reached a plea agreement with U.S. authorities, and $23 million in crypto assets linked to market manipulation charges will be seized. Court documents cited by Law360 show that Andriunin was involved in Gotbit, which caused “decentralized market participants” purchasing crypto assets to suffer financial “harm” as they bought crypto assets at “fraudulently inflated prices.” The founder of Gotbit was extradited to the U.S. at the end of February, after being arrested in Portugal four months prior. The plea agreement may allow Andriunin to avoid prison time and not pay any additional fines aside from asset forfeiture. However, the court retains final discretion over the terms of the judgment. The assets subject to civil forfeiture total $23 million, including stablecoins issued by Tether and Circle, held in four wallets “fully controlled” by Andriunin. Court documents show that Andriunin will be subject to three years of supervised release, during which he is strictly prohibited from engaging in any Crypto Assets activities. Last November, it was reported that the U.S. Department of Justice sued the CEO of Gotbit for allegedly orchestrating a large-scale fraudulent trading scheme.