Feds Get Guilty Plea in Coinbase Insider Trading Case

Feds Get Guilty Plea in Coinbase Insider Trading Case

Back in July, FIN covered the dramatic insider trading charges filed against a former Coinbase employee and two accomplices. The scheme was pretty straightforward: Ishan Wahi, a Coinbase product manager, had access to which crypto coins would begin trading on the Coinbase platform. He passed these on to his brother and a friend, who would then buy the coins and sell them—sometimes within minutes—as soon as they began trading on Coinbase. Over several months, the scammers made more than a million dollars in illegal trades, according to the Justice Department.

Ishan, who tried to leave the country but was apprehended at the airport, pled not guilty. But on Monday, his brother Nikhil pled guilty to to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with a scheme to commit insider trading. In theory, he could get 20 years in prison, although prosecutors may go a little easy on him because he has made their case against the brother so much stronger; sentencing will be in December. You can read Justice’s account here.