The U.S. Department of Justice charged 10 people on March 30 connected to four cryptocurrency market-making firms accused of artificially inflating digital asset prices and trading volumes.
This is absolutely MASSIVE.
Manipulation in the crypto is finally ending.
Ten foreign nationals have been charged by the US Justice Department for manipulating the crypto market.
These ten executives and employees are from four different crypto “market makers”: Gotbit, Vortex,… pic.twitter.com/noRQd5jSUj
— Ash Crypto (@AshCrypto) April 1, 2026
The defendants include employees and executives from Gotbit, Vortex, Antier, and Contrarian. Prosecutors say these firms used coordinated trading to create a false appearance of market demand.
According to court filings, the alleged scheme involved buying and selling the same tokens repeatedly — a practice known as wash trading — to drive up reported volumes and prices.
BREAKING: U.S. charges 10 in global crypto manipulation case
• Pump-and-dump + wash trading schemes exposed
• FBI undercover operation led to arrests & extraditions
• $1M+ crypto seized
• Antier Solutions linked via accused in probeGlobal crackdown on fake volume &… pic.twitter.com/r6C2v3VFIh
— The Crypto Times (@CryptoTimes_io) April 1, 2026
Once prices were inflated, prosecutors allege the firms sold those tokens to everyday investors who had no knowledge of the manipulation.
Prosecutors stated: “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 investigation was run under a program called Operation Token Mirrors. As part of the operation, FBI agents created a cryptocurrency called NexFundAI.
Agents used the fake token to approach market-making firms and document how wash trading services were offered and carried out.
The case moved through indictments issued between March and September 2025. Arrests followed in Singapore before three senior defendants were extradited to the United States.
Those three defendants appeared in federal court in Oakland, California after being brought over from Singapore.
Two other defendants had already pleaded guilty before the extraditions took place. They were sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín.
The FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation Division jointly conducted the undercover operation. Both agencies have been increasing their focus on crypto fraud cases in recent years.
Prosecutors said the pump-and-dump schemes caused investor losses both inside and outside the United States.
Court filings confirm that more than $1 million in cryptocurrency has been seized as part of the investigation to date.
Prosecutors stated: “These so-called pump-and-dump schemes caused losses to investors in the United States and elsewhere … More than $1 million in cryptocurrency has been seized to date.”
The DOJ did not specify the total investor losses in its public statements.
The case represents one of the more detailed undercover operations targeting crypto market manipulation, with the FBI going as far as launching its own token to gather evidence.
Three extradited defendants remain in U.S. custody and are expected to face trial in federal court in Oakland.
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