Coinbase’s former product manager and two others charged in insider trading case

SNEAK PEEK

  • Former Coinbase’s product manager along with brother and friend have been accused of crypto insider trading.
  • The defendants conducted illegal trades in about 25 different crypto assets and made gains of approximately $1.5 million.
  • An investigation has been launched by Coinbase and proceedings have begun.

Last month, the crypto and NFT world went into a state of shock when a former OpenSea employee was charged for committing insider trading in NFTs. Now, there’s another similar news.

The U.S. Department of Justice, in a statement, has stated its decision to charge Coinbase’s former product manager, Ishan Wahi in a serious matter of fraud conspiracy and wire fraud with an insider trading tip. 

Wahi has been accused of using sensitive details of Coinbase related to crypto assets that were to be listed on the platform’s exchanges. Besides him, his brother Nikhil Wahi and friend Sameer Ramani have also been charged. 

The two brothers were presented to the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington; however, Ramani has not been caught yet. 

According to the SEC, Nikhil Wahi and Sameer Ramani bought as well as sold about 25 crypto assets to earn profit and at least nine of the crypto assets have been identified as securities. 

The DOJ announcement also mentioned that Wahi tried fleeing to India but was unable to do so.

Coinbase’s CEO, Brian Armstrong, took to Twitter to address the charges. 

He added that frontrunning is illegal and damages trust both at Coinbase and in the crypto world. 

Addressing the severity of that matter, Coinbase clarified that it is very particular about monitoring illegal activity and is investigating the alleged misconduct.