DOJ Charges 10 Foreign Nationals Over Crypto ‘Wash Trading’ Scheme

In brief

• The DOJ has charged 10 individuals connected to firms Gotbit, Vortex, Antier, and Contrarian with cryptocurrency market manipulation.
• The charges stem from an FBI sting operation that saw the agency create several crypto tokens to identify the alleged schemes.
• Three defendants were extradited from Singapore; two have already pled guilty.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced charges Monday against 10 individuals tied to four “market maker” firms—Gotbit, Vortex, Antier, and Contrarian—accused of manipulating digital asset prices through so-called “pump-and-dump” schemes.

Federal prosecutors allege the defendants conspired to artificially inflate trading volumes and cryptocurrency prices before selling to “unwitting investors” at inflated values. “These so-called pump-and-dump schemes caused losses to investors in the United States and elsewhere,” prosecutors said, noting that authorities have seized more than $1 million in cryptocurrency.

10 Foreign National Executives and Employees of Four Different Cryptocurrency Financial Services Firms Are Charged by @USAO_NDCA With Orchestrating Fraud Schemes to Artificially Inflate the Trading Volume and Price of Cryptocurrencies. Three defendants, including 2 CEOs, were…

— U.S. Department of Justice - International (@USDOJ_Intl) March 31, 2026

Three defendants, including senior executives, were extradited from Singapore and appeared before U.S. District Court Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín in Oakland, while two others have already entered guilty pleas and received sentences.

The case illustrates how U.S. authorities are extending their reach to overseas actors whose alleged activities affect American cryptocurrency markets, even when the defendants operate entirely outside the United States.

The charges stem from an FBI undercover operation that deployed a bureau-created token to expose alleged market manipulation services—the same technique used to underpin charges against 18 individuals and entities accused of market manipulation in October 2024.

In March last year, Gotbit founder Aleksei Andriunin reached a plea agreement with U.S. authorities in connection with market manipulation charges, forfeiting $23 million in crypto assets.

Other recent actions by the DOJ have targeted privacy tool developers and individuals who allegedly misused COVID relief funds to purchase digital assets.

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