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Binance Co-Founder Says up to $5,000,000 Rewards Available for Information on Pre-Listing Insider Trading

Binance Co-Founder Says up to ,000,000 Rewards Available for Information on Pre-Listing Insider Trading

Binance will pay up to $5 million to anyone who can unearth corruption in the exchange’s crypto asset listing process, according to the company’s co-founder. On Monday, the top global crypto exchange announced it would list Ronin (RON), a gaming-focused Ethereum (ETH) sidechain. The asset, however, had already surged 100% in price over the past […]

The post Binance Co-Founder Says up to $5,000,000 Rewards Available for Information on Pre-Listing Insider Trading appeared first on The Daily Hodl.

Former FTX Boss Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison

Former OpenSea manager withdraws application for bail pending appeal

The attorneys representing Nathaniel Chastain informed the court that Chastain will self-surrender on Nov. 2 to begin serving his sentence.

A former manager at nonfungible token marketplace OpenSea sentenced to three months in prison for insider trading has opted to serve the sentence while his appeal is pending.

On Sept. 6, Nathaniel Chastain’s lawyers filed a letter with a New York District Court informing the judge that Chastain decided to withdraw his application for bail pending appeal.

As a result, per the court's previous order and judgment, Chastain will self-surrender by Nov. 2 to begin serving his sentence while his appeal is pending.

Screenshot of the letter from Chastain’s lawyers. Source: CourtListener

Chastain, a former OpenSea product manager, was convicted on May 3 on counts of wire fraud and money laundering and on Aug. 22 was sentenced to three months in prison for offenses relating to insider trading on the NFT platform.

He was also ordered to pay a $50,000 fine and forfeit any ill-gotten crypto he made from trading on OpenSea.

Related: OpenSea manager accused of insider trading sentenced to 3 months in prison, $50K fine

Chastain had control over which NFTs and collections would be featured on OpenSea’s homepage — greatly increasing their visibility and possibly impacting their price.

He’s alleged to have purchased 45 NFTs prior to featuring them on the homepage and then reselling them for a profit once their prices had increased.

Prosecuting attorney Allison Nichols argued at the time that Chastain knew he was breaking the law by using anonymous OpenSea accounts to make the trades.

Magazine: How to protect your crypto in a volatile market: Bitcoin OGs and experts weigh in

Former FTX Boss Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison

Twitter CEO Elon Musk Accused of Insider Trading in Amended Dogecoin (DOGE) Class Action Complaint: Report

Twitter CEO Elon Musk Accused of Insider Trading in Amended Dogecoin (DOGE) Class Action Complaint: Report

A group of disgruntled Dogecoin (DOGE) holders are reportedly seeking to amend a class action lawsuit against Elon Musk. The class action lawsuit was originally filed against billionaire Twitter CEO Elon Musk in June of 2022 to include allegations of insider trading. According to Reuters, the investors claim financial losses as a result of the […]

The post Twitter CEO Elon Musk Accused of Insider Trading in Amended Dogecoin (DOGE) Class Action Complaint: Report appeared first on The Daily Hodl.

Former FTX Boss Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison

Ex-Coinbase Executive and His Brother Reach Settlement With SEC on Crypto Insider-Trading Charges

Ex-Coinbase Executive and His Brother Reach Settlement With SEC on Crypto Insider-Trading Charges

Former Coinbase product manager Ishan Wahi and his brother, Nikhil Wahi, just reached an agreement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to settle charges arising from an insider trading scheme involving crypto assets. In July of 2022, the SEC filed a complaint accusing Ishan Wahi of giving his brother and a friend, Sameer […]

The post Ex-Coinbase Executive and His Brother Reach Settlement With SEC on Crypto Insider-Trading Charges appeared first on The Daily Hodl.

Former FTX Boss Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison

Ex-Coinbase Executive Slapped With Two-Year Prison Sentence on Crypto Asset Insider Trading Charges

Ex-Coinbase Executive Slapped With Two-Year Prison Sentence on Crypto Asset Insider Trading Charges

The former Coinbase product manager who was charged in the first-ever cryptocurrency insider trading case in the US has been sentenced to two years in prison. Ishan Wahi was found guilty of tipping his brother Nikhil Wahi and their friend Sameer Raman about which tokens are to be listed next on the Coinbase crypto exchange. […]

The post Ex-Coinbase Executive Slapped With Two-Year Prison Sentence on Crypto Asset Insider Trading Charges appeared first on The Daily Hodl.

Former FTX Boss Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison

SEC Probes First Republic Bank Executives for Insider Trading; Lawmakers Dump Bank’s Shares Before Collapse

SEC Probes First Republic Bank Executives for Insider Trading; Lawmakers Dump Bank’s Shares Before CollapseAfter the second largest bank failure in history, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is reportedly investigating First Republic Bank executives for allegedly engaging in insider trading. Two sources have claimed that the securities regulator is scrutinizing the bank’s executives for making trades using confidential information. Although the sources have not named any specific […]

Former FTX Boss Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison

Jury convicts former OpenSea manager in NFT-insider trading case

Prosecutors claimed Nathaniel Chastain profited from inside information as to which NFTs would be featured on the marketplace.

The former OpenSea manager who was accused of insider trading of NFTs has been convicted on May 3 of wire fraud and money laundering in a New York federal court, according to a report from Reuters.

According to prosecutors, Nathaniel Chastain, a former Product Manager at OpenSea, was in charge of choosing which NFTs would be featured on the website’s non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace.

After making these decisions, he frequently purchased these NFTs and then resold them after they had been featured, prosecutors said. He was charged with wire fraud and money laundering on June 1 in connection with these alleged transactions. 

OpenSea's home page displaying featured NFTs. Source: OpenSea

The trial began on April 24 and has been watched closely by lawyers specializing in crypto-related issues. Some legal experts have argued that the outcome of the case may affect whether NFTs are considered securities.

According to the May 3 report, defense attorney Daniel Filor argued in the trial’s closing statements that Chastain wasn’t guilty because he had never been told the information was supposed to be confidential, stating “Nobody told Nate that he couldn't use or share that information."

By contrast, prosecuting attorney Allison Nichols argued that Chastain knew he was breaking the law. She claimed that he used anonymous OpenSea accounts to make the trades, implying that he was afraid of being caught.

"He hid what he was doing," Nichols reportedly told the jury in her rebuttal. "He knew that he had violated OpenSea's confidentiality agreement."

Related: Crypto exchanges tackle insider trading after recent convictions

It marks the first time a person has been slapped for using privileged knowledge to trade non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

A former employee of Coinbase, Ishan Wahi, and his brother Nikhil were also charged with insider trading of cryptocurrencies in a separate case in July. In that case, Nikhil Wahi pled guilty on September 12.

Former FTX Boss Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison

Man Charged in Coinbase Insider-Trading Scheme To Pay the US Exchange $469,525.50 in Restitution

Man Charged in Coinbase Insider-Trading Scheme To Pay the US Exchange 9,525.50 in Restitution

One of the perpetrators in the first-ever crypto insider trading case is required to pay digital asset exchange Coinbase in addition to serving jail time. A New York District Court filing signed by Judge Loretta A. Preska on April 6th orders Nikhil Wahi, brother of former Coinbase product manager Ishan Wahi, to pay the exchange […]

The post Man Charged in Coinbase Insider-Trading Scheme To Pay the US Exchange $469,525.50 in Restitution appeared first on The Daily Hodl.

Former FTX Boss Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison

Coinbase wins $470K restitution in insider trading case

The brother of a former Coinbase employee allegedly profited from an insider trading scheme and now has 20 years to repay the funds.

The brother of a former Coinbase employee has agreed to pay the cryptocurrency exchange nearly $470,000 for his role in an insider trading scheme.

According to a New York District Court filing signed on April 6 and made public on April 10, Nikhil Wahi — brother of former Coinbase product manager Ishan Wahi — will be required to begin making restitution payments while serving time in prison in what is believed to be the first insider trading case involving crypto.

The amount must be paid in full within 20 years of Nikhil’s release from prison and represents the amount Coinbase spent on legal services relating to the Department of Justice’s investigation.

In September 2022 Nikhil pleaded guilty to initiating trades based on confidential information obtained from his brother and is currently serving 10 months in prison for wire fraud conspiracy charges after being sentenced on Jan. 10.

Because of his position at Coinbase, prosecutors alleged Ishan knew when the exchange would be listing new cryptocurrencies and informed his brother Nikhil and an associate of theirs, Sameer Ramani, prior to the asset listings being publicly announced.

The prices of the listed cryptocurrencies generally rose after their listing, netting Nikhil $892,500 in profit, according to prosecutors. As part of his sentencing, Nikhil was required to forfeit these funds to the United States government.

Related: Coinbase head of exchange departs and plans to start new crypto project: Report

In a separate civil case, Coinbase defended the brothers and Ramani after the trio was sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission for violating antifraud provisions of U.S. securities laws.

In a March 13 amicus brief, Coinbase said that it condemns the defendants’ conduct but was supportive of a motion to dismiss the case as it argued the SEC had no jurisdiction to file a lawsuit given the tokens in question do not pass the Howey test — a U.S. legal doctrine that evaluates whether an asset is a security.

The SEC noted in an April 3 filing that it had reached an “agreement in principle” with Ishan to resolve the SEC’s claims and was also in “good faith discussions” with Nikhil.

Hodler's Digest, April 2-8: BTC white paper hidden on macOS, Binance loses AUS license and DOGE news

Former FTX Boss Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison

Cathie Wood’s ARK loading up on Coinbase shares again, buying $18M

ARK Invest purchased 269,928 shares in Coinbase on March 23, only two days after it sold $13.5 million, its first sale of Coinbase shares this year.

Cathie Wood’s investment management firm has gone back to buying Coinbase shares again, just a day after COIN’s stock price dipped amid news of its Wells notice

On March 23, ARK Invest purchased 268,928 Coinbase shares via its ARKK Innovation and ARKW Next Generation Internet exchange-traded funds. The shares wereworth $17.88 million at the time of writing.

Only two days prior, and before the news of the Wells notice broke, ARK Invest sold 160,887 Coinbase shares from its ARK Fintech Innovation ETF. The sale was the first time any of ARK Invest’s ETFs shed Coinbase shares in 2023.

Coinbase’s share price has failed to recover since it shared news it had received a Wells notice warning of possible enforcement action from the Securities and Exchange Commission, which led to COIN shares dropping around 21%.

Shares in Coinbase dipped to a low of $64.27 after trading began on March 23, and at time of writing were trading at $66.87 in after-hours trading, according to Barron’s.

Coinbase’s share price from March 17 to March 23. Source: Barron’s

Related: Coinbase CEO on its Wells notice: SEC is like soccer referees in a game of pickleball

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong had also sold shares in his firm between March 17 to March 20 — just days prior to the Wells notice and share price dip.

SEC filings indicate, however, that Coinbase executives and insiders all enter into 10B5-1 selling plans months in advance and that this tranche of sales was pursuant to a trading plan adopted on Aug. 16.

SEC filing showing the latest shares sold by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. Source: SEC Archives

While the SEC reached a settlement with crypto exchange Kraken on Feb. 9 after alleging its staking services qualified as securities, Coinbase has repeatedly asserted that its staking products are fundamentally different from Kraken’s and they cannot be universally labeled as securities.

Magazine: Best and worst countries for crypto taxes — Plus crypto tax tips

Former FTX Boss Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison