‘Crime with better branding’ – Inside DoJ’s move against market makers

The U.S Department of Justice (DoJ) continues to crack down on rogue crypto market makers. 

On Monday, the 30th of March, the government announced the indictment of 10 executives and employees of four market makers, including Gotbit, Vortex, Antier, and Contrarian.

Notably, Contrarian CEO Manu Singh and employee Vasu Sharma were arrested in Singapore and extradited to the U.S. Similarly, Gleb Gora, CEO of Vortex, was extradited to the U.S to face the alleged charges.

In the statement, the U.S prosecutors said, 

The indictments allege that the defendants not only conspired to inflate the trading volume and price of cryptocurrencies but also profited through the sale of the cryptocurrencies at inflated prices to unwitting investors.

The defendants were smoked out through fake tokens created by the FBI, where the market makers agreed to offer ‘manipulation-as-a-service’ to pump and dump them on unsuspecting retail traders. 

Interestingly, the FBI used a similar strategy in 2024 and nabbed 18 people involving some of the above-mentioned market makers. In particular, Gotbit CEO Aleksei Andriunin was a key face in the 2024 sting operation. 

The 2026 crackdown seems to have expanded the investigations to other Gotbit employees and new market makers like Contrarian, Antier, and Vortex. If found guilty, the defendants could spend up to 20 years in jail. 

Crypto ‘market maker’ menace

Market makers ensure a smooth trading experience with little slippage by providing ample liquidity.

However, some rogue players can easily manipulate trading volumes and prices of the respective tokens they handle on an exchange.  

In fact, Binance has faced several allegations of pump and dump schemes. Over 75% of tokens listed on it have dropped to nearly zero, with some bleeding even before the crypto winter deepened. 

However, the exchange recently pointed fingers at rogue market makers for aggressive sell-offs of newly listed tokens. 

To reinforce integrity and trust, Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, issued new rules for market makers and warned of hefty punishment for rogue players. 

Reacting to the DoJ’s latest crackdown, Joshua Riezman, legal officer at market maker GSR, said, 

Thank you, DOJ, for the periodic reminder that in crypto, unfortunately, there are still market makers and ‘market makers’ and the latter is just crime with better branding.

 Final Summary

• The DoJ has indicted 10 executives and employees of the crypto market makers Gotbit, Vortex, Contrarian, and Antier. 
• This was an extended sting operation after a 2024 crackdown that also targeted four market makers, including Gotbit, for alleged ‘pump and dump’ schemes.