Vladimir Gorbunov – The “Cryptofounder” at the Center of Notorious Crypto Schemes

Russian entrepreneur Vladimir Gorbunov presents himself as a visionary “cryptofounder.” In reality, he sits at the center of a complex cluster of brands and entities – Crypterium, Choise.com / Choise.ai, vbanq, Vault.ist and related offshore companies – that has left thousands of users with heavy losses, locked funds, and unanswered questions. Public records, marketing materials, and liquidation documents show that the same small group of founders and entities keeps reappearing as projects are rebranded or wound down and relaunched under new names. This continuity of people and infrastructure, combined with opaque ownership and cross-border structures, calls for intense regulatory scrutiny and insider testimony.

Introduction

Gorbunov’s own LinkedIn and public interviews paint a clear timeline (Source: LinkedIn):

• 2017: Launch of Crypterium AS in Estonia and the CRPT ICO, raising tens of millions of dollars for a “cryptobank for cryptopeople.”​
• 2022: Rebrand to Choise.com / Choise.ai – explicitly described by Gorbunov as “the next step in the development of Crypterium,” built on the same infrastructure and tokenomics.​
• 2023+: Launch of Vault.ist and vbanq as “cryptobanking white‑label and API solutions,” which Gorbunov openly states are fully built on top of the Choise/Crypterium infrastructure.​

In his own words, Vault is “one of the leading digital/crypto banking companies worldwide,” and its infrastructure “is fully built on the foundation of Choise.com’s infrastructure,” into which he claims to have invested tens of millions (Source: TradingView) That means the same technology stack, the same “crypto‑fiat banking” logic, and many of the same people – just wrapped in new brands.​

Read our Crypterium report here.

Yet while Gorbunov boasts of more than $35–60 million invested and “over $1 billion” in project capitalization at the beginning of 2022, CRPT and CHO token holders have seen their investments implode by over 99%, and Choise’s EU VASP entity is now in liquidation. So the question practically asks itself: whose capitalization was being built – and at whose expense?

Key Facts Table

Read our vbanq / Vault report here.

Narrative Profile – From “Cryptobank” Pioneer to Serial Rebrander

Gorbunov entered the public crypto stage as one of the founders of Crypterium, a 2017 “cryptobank” ICO that promised card-based spending of cryptocurrencies and seamless payments. KPMG’s Fintech100 list and independent reports name him among Crypterium’s key people, alongside Gleb Markov, Austin Kimm, and others (Source: KPMG).

In June 2022, he personally announced the rebranding of Crypterium to Choise.com, calling it “the next step in Crypterium’s evolution” and promising a MetaFi ecosystem that would blend CeFi and DeFi and open “new ways to earn more” (Source: Choise.com). Choise.com rolled out interest-bearing accounts, yield products, NFTs and a CHO token, heavily marketed as the natural continuation of the Crypterium story (Source: Choise.com).

At the same time, Gorbunov cultivated a media persona as a seasoned fintech innovator with “projects exceeding $1 billion in capitalization,” giving podcasts and interviews on proof-of-reserves and risk management (Source: Spotify for Creators).

Fast-forward to 2024–2025:

• The Lithuanian operating company UAB Choise Services is now in liquidation, with an official status of “Under Liquidation” in the Lithuanian registry (Source: Okredo.com).
• Users on LinkedIn and Trustpilot complain that funds have been locked for months, settlements are slow, and losses are massive, even as the group insists the process complies with Lithuanian law.
• Critics on social media explicitly describe Crypterium/Choise tokens and NFTs as “scamcoins”, singling out Gorbunov and his close associates by name – allegations he and the companies dispute.

While the liquidation plays out, new brands have surged to the foreground:

• Choise.ai, presented as an AI-driven RWA and crypto-fiat infrastructure. fintelegram.com+1
• Vault.ist / vbanq, marketed as “Digital Banking-as-a-Service” and a “crypto-friendly banking platform,” offering white-label cards, accounts and digital-asset services for partners.

Public profiles and corporate registry summaries now describe Gorbunov as founder of Choise.com and Crypterium and founder at Vault.ist – the same crypto-banking vision re-exported as infrastructure for other brands. THE ORG+2Gate.com+2

A natural question follows:
Is this a story of continuous innovation – or of a troubled scheme constantly changing skins as user losses crystallize and regulators close in?

Regulatory / Legal Notes

• The projects associated with Gorbunov have, at times, highlighted EU licensing and PCI/ISO certifications for Choise.com, presenting it as a “licensed, fully regulated financial institution in the EU.”
• However, the core Lithuanian entity is now being wound down, while the higher-profile brands migrate to AI, RWA and BaaS narratives under different entities in the UAE, Czech Republic and other jurisdictions (Source: Lithuanian Company Register).
• Publicly available terms of use for Choise.com reserve the right not to return assets used as collateral or for income generation in the event of bankruptcy or liquidation, a clause that may shock retail users who believed they were dealing with a “regulated, insured” platform.

To date, there is no public record of a criminal conviction against Vladimir Gorbunov in relation to these projects. But the combination of ICO-era capital raising, complex cross-border company structures, high-risk yield products, and now a contentious liquidation inevitably raises red flags for regulators, banks, and law-enforcement agencies.

Analysis – Patterns That Demand Answers

From a compliance and investor-protection perspective, several patterns around Gorbunov’s ecosystem stand out and demand further investigation:

1. Serial Rebranding with Continuity of Control
   • Crypterium → Choise.com → Choise.ai and the shift towards Vault.ist / vbanq all feature similar promises (crypto banking, cards, yields) and overlapping leadership, with Gorbunov repeatedly presented as founder/CEO or strategic mastermind.
   • Each cycle brings new branding and buzzwords (cryptobank, MetaFi, AI, BaaS) while legacy users struggle to recover funds.
2. Jurisdictional Arbitrage & Offshore Anchors
   • The ecosystem touches Estonia, Lithuania, Cyprus, the UAE, Czech Republic, Delaware, and offshore hubs, often via opaque companies and MSB/VASP registrations that are hard for retail users to interpret.
3. Asymmetry Between Marketing Claims & Legal Reality
   • Marketing talks about “regulated, insured, safe, fully compliant” platforms. Liquidation documents and ToS clauses, by contrast, stress that certain assets may not be returned and that recovery is subject to complex legal processes and cut-off dates.
4. Investor & User Outcomes vs. Founder Narratives
   • While founders tout billion-dollar project valuations and innovation awards, many token holders and wallet users face near-total losses and months-long waits.

These are not technicalities. They go to the heart of the question:

Has Gorbunov’s “cryptobank” vision primarily served users – or has it systematically transferred risk and loss to them while the corporate shell keeps mutating?

Call for Information – Whistle42

FinTelegram considers Vladimir Gorbunov and the Crypterium / Choise / Choise.ai / vbanq / Vault.ist complex a high-risk structure that merits close scrutiny by regulators, banks, card schemes, and law-enforcement agencies.

To move from suspicion to evidence, we urgently need insider information:

• Internal memos, investor decks, or liquidation instructions;
• Contracts between Choise entities, Vault.ist / vbanq and banks, PSPs or card issuers;
• Proof of how user funds, collateral, and token sale proceeds were actually handled;
• KYC/AML manuals, risk reports, or correspondence with regulators and liquidators.

If you are or were an employee, contractor, consultant, partner bank, payment provider, or affected user, you can securely submit documents and information to FinTelegram via the Whistle42 whistleblower platform (Whistle42.com).

Your information can help clarify who really controls this network, how capital has flowed through it, and whether users are being treated lawfully and fairly.