Brother of Former Coinbase Manager Pleads Guilty to Insider Trading Charge: First Insider Trading Case Involving Cryptocurrency

Brother of Former Coinbase Manager Pleads Guilty to Insider Trading Charge: First Insider Trading Case Involving Cryptocurrency
  • He pleaded guilty on Monday to a wire fraud conspiracy charge, in what U.S. prosecutors have called the first insider trading case involving cryptocurrency.
  • Nikhil Wahi, 26, admitted during a virtual court hearing before U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska in Manhattan that he made trades based on confidential Coinbase information.
  • Prosecutors say Ishan Wahi, the former product manager, shared confidential information with his brother and their friend Sameer Ramani about new digital assets Coinbase was planning to let users trade.
  • Nikhil Wahi and Ramani then allegedly used ethereum blockchain wallets to acquire the assets and traded at least 14 times before Coinbase announcements in June 2021 and April 2022.
  • Those announcements typically caused the assets to rise in value and generated at least $1.5 million in gains, prosecutors said.

https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/brother-ex-coinbase-manager-pleads-guilty-insider-trading-charge-2022-09-12/
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