Prosecutors in the United States have determined the case with the Coinbase product manager is the first example of insider trading involving cryptocurrencies.
U.S. authorities called Ishan Wahi, a former Coinbase Global Inc. product manager, the first bitcoin insider trading case. Wahl admitted to cryptocurrency’s first insider trading case.
The prosecutors alleged Wahi shared confidential material with his brother Nikhil and acquaintance Sameer Ramani. It involves impending Coinbase customer tradeable digital asset releases. Reuters released it. After the news increased asset values, Nikhil and Sameer Raman generated at least $1.5 million in unlawful gains. Then Nikhil Wahi and Ramani traded digital assets using Ethereum (ETH) blockchain wallets before Coinbase’s disclosures.
Ishan Wahi has reached a bargain with the prosecution in which he would serve between 36 and 47 months in prison in exchange for his guilty plea. The date set for his hearing to determine his sentence is May 10. His brother Nikhil Wahi pleaded guilty and received a 10-month sentence. Ramani remains at large. According to reports, Coinbase provided the authorities with the findings of an internal investigation into the trading.
Ishan Wahi’s brother Nikhil was sentenced to ten months in prison for wire fraud conspiracy on January 10, Cointelegraph reported. In September, Nikhil Wahi entered a guilty plea to the charge that he had initiated transactions based on sensitive information obtained from his brother Ishan Wahi.
Nikhil Wahi gained approximately $900,000 from his illegal actions. The U.S. prosecutors recommended that he serve a jail sentence ranging from ten to sixteen months. The length of his sentence would affect the time he would spend behind bars. However, his defense lawyers advocated an alternative outcome. Saying that his driving force behind the conduct was to compensate his parents for his college degree and that he had no previous criminal history.
