US DOJ indicts 10 for using bots to fake liquidity in crypto markets

The US Department of Justice has indicted 10 foreign nationals for allegedly running sophisticated crypto market manipulation schemes, charging them with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The announcement, made on March 30, 2026, named defendants tied to four market-making firms: Gotbit, Vortex, Antier, and Contrarian. The core accusation is straightforward: trading bots generating fake volume, coordinated wash trades inflating prices, and real investors on the receiving end of a manufactured illusion of market demand. How the scheme worked According to the DOJ, the defendants generated millions in fake daily trading volume on crypto exchanges. That artificial volume served as bait: lure in buyers who believe there’s real demand, then sell off holdings into that manufactured liquidity. The FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation ran the operation jointly under the name “Operation Token Mirrors,” which involved undercover agents creating fake digital asset projects specifically designed to catch manipulators in the act. Named defendants include Antoine Tsao, Ian Sofronov, and Nemanja Popov from Gotbit; Gleb Gora, Sergei Ryzhkov, and Michael Vogel from Vortex; Manu Singh, Ku...