Security News > 2022 > July > Ex-Coinbase manager charged in first-ever crypto insider trading case

A now-former Coinbase manager, his brother, and a friend were today charged with wire fraud conspiracy and wire fraud in connection with the first-ever cryptocurrency insider trading scheme in the US. Ishan Wahi, a 32-year-old ex-product manager at Coinbase Global who lives in Seattle, Washington, and his 26-year-old brother Nikhil Wahi, also from Seattle, were arrested Thursday morning.

The US Department of Justice and FBI allege the three men pulled off a $1.5 million insider trading scheme by using confidential Coinbase information about which crypto-assets were scheduled to be listed on Coinbase's exchanges.

As a Coinbase product manager assigned to the financial giant's asset listing team, Ishan Wahi was privy to advanced knowledge of which cryptocurrencies Coinbase planned to list, according to court records.

These crypto-assets are said to include: TRIBE, XYO, ALCX, GALA, ENS, and POWR. After receiving these confidential Coinbase details, Nikhil Wahi and Sameer Ramani allegedly used anonymous Ethereum blockchain wallets to acquire certain crypto assets before Coinbase announced anything publicly.

In early April, Ishan Wahi allegedly learned that Coinbase planned to announced it was considering listing dozens of crypto assets on its exchanges.

On April 12 a Twitter account that the Feds describe as "Well known in the crypto community, with hundreds of thousands of followers," tweeted about identifying an Ethereum wallet "That bought hundreds of thousands of dollars of tokens exclusively featured in the Coinbase Asset Listing post about 24 hours before it was published."

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2022/07/21/coinbase_crypto_insider_trading/