April

Noah

After pleading guilty earlier this year, former Coinbase Product Manager Ishan Wahi has been sentenced to 2 years in prison in a landmark case for insider trading with cryptocurrencies. 
The sentence exceeds the 10-month prison sentence of Ishan’s brother – Nikhil Wahi – with whom he conspired for the crime. 
<h2 id="two-years-for-crypto-insider-trading">Two Years for Crypto Insider Trading</h2>
According to a report from <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/coinbase-ex-manager-sentenced-2-years-prison-us-insider-trading-case-2023-05-09/" data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank">Reuters</a>, Ishan Wahi was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska in a Manhattan Federal court on Tuesday. 
The sentence follows a guilty plea from Wahi back in February to two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Preska stated that his scheme was a “massive abuse” of Coinbase’s trust – America’s largest cryptocurrency exchange which has been subject to a plethora of customer and government-launched lawsuits over the past year. 
Wahi was arrested and charged by the Department of Justice last July for having tipped his brother – alongside his friend Sameer Ramani – with information about upcoming coin listings at Coinbase that had not yet been made public. Analysis has shown that listings on large crypto exchanges often have a <a href="https://medium.com/coinmonks/analysis-a-binance-listing-adds-41-on-crypto-prices-2f6cd72e8dff#:~:text=In%20most%20cases%2C%20a%20Binance,varies%20from%20project%20to%20project." data-wpel-link="external" target="_blank">dramatic effect</a> on an asset’s price 
The group’s scheme netted them roughly $1.5 million in total across 55 different token announcements between June 2021 and April 2022, according to prosecutors. 
Assistant U.S. Attorney Noah Solowiejczyk said during the hearing that the ten months of consistent tips demonstrated that Wahi’s actions were “not a one-off mistake.” Meanwhile, Judge Preska added that Wahi and the co-defendants’ attempts at covering their actions proved that they knew what they were doing was wrong. 
<h2 id="a-huge-mistake">A “Huge Mistake”</h2>
“I made a huge mistake that will follow me for the rest of my life,&#8221; Wahi said. His comment echoed that of his brother Nikhil from back in January, who said his mistake was “something that I will have to live with forever,” after <a href="https://cryptopotato.com/brother-of-former-coinbase-manager-sentenced-to-10-months-in-prison/" data-wpel-link="internal">pleading guilty</a> to his respective charges. 
Ishan Wahi initially <a href="https://cryptopotato.com/ex-coinbase-executive-pleads-not-guilty-to-insider-trading-case-report/" data-wpel-link="internal">pled not guilty</a> to wire fraud charges shortly after they were announced, but eventually followed his brother’s lead with a <a href="https://cryptopotato.com/former-coinbase-exec-pleads-guilty-to-insider-trading-report/" data-wpel-link="internal">guilty plea</a> in February. 
Wahi requested a sentence no longer than his brother’s within court papers, citing other insider trading cases where lawbreakers were little prison time. On the other hand, prosecutors called for Wahi to receive 3 years in prison to set an example for other crypto exchange insiders misusing their privileged information. 
OpenSea’s Head of Product was similarly charged with NFT Insider Trading in June – but the ex-employee has since <a href="https://cryptopotato.com/openseas-former-head-of-product-files-motion-to-drop-insider-trading-charges/" data-wpel-link="internal">filed</a> to have those charges dropped. 
The post <a href="https://cryptopotato.com/fired-coinbase-exec-caught-with-insider-trading-sentenced-to-2-years-in-prison/" rel="nofollow">Fired Coinbase Exec Caught With Insider Trading Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison</a> appeared first on <a href="https://cryptopotato.com/" rel="nofollow">CryptoPotato</a>.

Fired Coinbase Exec Caught With Insider Trading Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison

Table of Contents

CryptoPotato_News

Other articles published on May 10, 2023

Bitcoin Held on Exchanges Drops to 5-Year Lows: Santiment

How to Set Up a Binance Account

Bittrex Files for Bankruptcy: Why Proof-of-Reserve Should be Mandatory to Safeguard Investor Funds

Helio Protocol Strengthens Partnership with Wombat Exchange and Expands DeFi Stablecoin Offerings

IOTA Celebrates Shimmer’s Major Milestone and SPYCE5 Teams up with Industry Giant Servrox to Tran...

Core Scientific Rejects Celsius' $4.7M Claim in an Ongoing Legal Battle

Join our free newsletter for daily crypto updates!