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After admitting guilt earlier this year, former Coinbase Product Manager Ishan Wahi has received a 2-year prison sentence in a significant case concerning insider trading involving cryptocurrencies.
This sentence surpasses the 10-month prison term given to Ishan’s brother – Nikhil Wahi – with whom he collaborated in the offense.
Two Years for Crypto Insider Trading
As reported by Reuters, Ishan Wahi was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska in a Manhattan Federal court on Tuesday.
The sentence comes after Wahi’s guilty plea in February to two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Preska remarked that his actions constituted a “massive abuse” of the trust placed in him by Coinbase – the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S., which has faced numerous lawsuits from customers and government entities over the past year.
Wahi was arrested and charged by the Department of Justice last July for having provided his brother – along with his associate Sameer Ramani – with insider information regarding upcoming coin listings at Coinbase that had not yet been disclosed to the public. Analysis indicates that listings on major crypto exchanges frequently have a significant impact on an asset’s price.
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The scheme reportedly earned the group approximately $1.5 million in total from 55 different token announcements between June 2021 and April 2022, according to prosecutors.
During the hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Noah Solowiejczyk stated that the ten months of consistent tips illustrated that Wahi’s actions were “not a one-off mistake.” Judge Preska further noted that Wahi and his co-defendants’ efforts to conceal their actions indicated that they were aware of the wrongdoing.
A “Huge Mistake”
“I made a huge mistake that will follow me for the rest of my life,” Wahi expressed. His statement mirrored that of his brother Nikhil from January, who remarked that his mistake was “something that I will have to live with forever,” after admitting guilt to his respective charges.
Ishan Wahi initially pleaded not guilty to wire fraud charges shortly after they were made public, but ultimately followed his brother’s example with a guilty plea in February.
Wahi requested a sentence no longer than his brother’s in court documents, referencing other insider trading cases where offenders received minimal prison time. Conversely, prosecutors advocated for a 3-year prison sentence for Wahi to serve as a deterrent for other insiders at crypto exchanges misusing their privileged information.
OpenSea’s Head of Product faced similar charges related to NFT Insider Trading in June – however, the former employee has since sought to have those charges dismissed.
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