Gotbit: market maker deal terms and record
Gotbit sold fake trading volume to token projects. Its founder pleaded guilty in March 2025 and was sentenced to 8 months in prison; the firm forfeited about $23M and must stop operating during 5 years of probation.
ConvictedPublic deals on record: 1.
Profile
| Founded | 2017 |
| Deal models | paid volume generation |
| Legal record | Convicted. Founder pleaded guilty Mar 2025, sentenced Jun 2025 to 8 months in prison; firm forfeited about $23M and must cease to operate during 5 years probation. Also SEC civil fraud charges, Oct 2024. |
Source: www.justice.gov, grade 5, primary document, checked 2026-09-13.
Public deals
undisclosed clients, 2019-2024
| Structure | market-manipulation-as-a-service (criminal charges) |
| Details | Charged by DOJ Oct 2024 in Operation Token Mirrors alongside ZM Quant, CLS Global and MyTrade. SEC alleged on-demand wash trading generating millions in fake daily volume. Founder charged with wire fraud, alleged tens of millions in proceeds. First criminal prosecution of financial services firms for crypto market manipulation. |
| Outcome | Convicted. Founder pleaded guilty Mar 2025 to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit market manipulation and wire fraud; sentenced Jun 2025 to 8 months in prison. Gotbit forfeited about $23M in crypto and was sentenced to 5 years probation during which it must cease to operate. SEC civil fraud charges filed 9 Oct 2024. |
| Source | US Department of Justice, grade 5, primary document, checked 2026-09-13 |
How market-maker deals usually look
The industry default is a token loan plus a call option. Across about 40 public DAO deals, loans ran at 1% to 5% of circulating supply for 12 to 24 months, with the strike set 25% to 100% above the TGE price, median 50% (WuBlockchain and the Wallfacer deal tracker, grade 4). A second source puts loans at 0.5% to 2% of supply; we show both, because the market has no agreed norm.
Want to see what an option is worth to the desk? Try the option calculator, or read our sample term sheet review. How rarely launches disclose these deals at all: 4 of 57.
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Allegations are reported as allegations, with the outcome where one exists. A written comparison against public data, not legal or investment advice. We take no money from market makers.