Ex-Coinbase ex-manager's brother sentenced to 10 months in crypto-assets insider trading case

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Nikhil Wahi, brother of a former Coinbase product manager, has been convicted in a Manhattan federal court in a case of insider trading in crypto assets on the platform.

Last July, the SEC indicted the formerCoinbase product manager Ishan Wahi and his brother Nikhil Wahi in insider trading. After being taken into custody, Nikhil Wahi admitted to the investigation that he used for personal gain the information provided by his brother on the future listing of tokens on the Coinbase Global site. Ishan Vahi pleaded not guilty.

Nikhil Wahi was sentenced to 10 months on Tuesdayimprisonment for using his family connections to engage in insider trading in crypto assets. The court ordered Nikhil Wahi to pay a fine of $892,000, equivalent to the profit received from these transactions.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams(Damian Williams) noted that this was the first case in US jurisprudence when "the defendant pleaded guilty in an insider trading case related to the cryptocurrency markets."

Cooperation with the investigation allowed NikhilWahi to avoid the 20-year sentence that criminals found guilty of wire fraud are sentenced to. At the end of his term, Nikhil Wahi will be deported from the United States.

In June 2022 against Nathaniel Chastain(Nathaniel Chastain), a former OpenSea employee, has been sued for fraud and insider trading in digital assets. However, in August, Chastain filed a motion to dismiss these charges. His lawyers said that since NFTs had not yet been defined as securities or commodities, he technically did not violate any laws.