Tippee Pleads Guilty In First Ever Cryptocurrency Insider Trading Case
Cryptocurrency Insider Trading Case
US Attorney Damian Williams said,
"Less than two months after his indictment, Nikhil Wahi admitted in court that he traded crypto assets based on confidential Coinbase business information to which he was not entitled."
A defendant has admitted guilt for the first time in a case involving cryptocurrency exchanges and insider trading. The guilty plea should serve as a reminder to individuals trading cryptocurrencies that the Southern District of New York will continue to be vigilant in keeping track of scams of all stripes and adjusting to new technical developments.
All About Allegations
Ishan Wahi worked at Coinbase as a product manager assigned to a Coinbase asset listing team starting around October 2020. In that capacity, Ishan was involved in the incredibly private process of adding crypto assets to Coinbase's exchanges and was well-versed in both the specific crypto assets Coinbase planned to list and the date of when those listings would be made public. After receiving details from him about the cryptocurrency assets, Coinbase intended to list them on its exchanges between July 2021 and May 2022. Nikhil Wahi used anonymous Ethereum blockchain wallets to buy those cryptocurrency assets. A short while earlier, Coinbase declared that it would list these digital assets on its exchanges. Following the announcements about Coinbase's public listing, Nikhil frequently liquidated the cryptocurrency assets for a profit.
Digital Assets Purchases
Nikhil Wahi transferred funds, crypto assets, and proceeds of their scheme through multiple anonymous Ethereum blockchain wallets to conceal his digital assets purchases ahead of Coinbase listing announcements. He used accounts at centralized exchanges held in other people's names. He frequently established and used brand-new Ethereum blockchain wallets with no previous transaction history to hide their involvement in the fraud.
Nikhil Wahi, 26, of Seattle, Washington, pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.