Ex-Coinbase Executive and His Brother Reach Settlement With SEC on Crypto Insider-Trading Charges

Crypto

Ex-Coinbase Executive and His Brother Reach Settlement With SEC on Crypto Insider-Trading Charges

3 mins ago

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Former Coinbase product manager Ishan Wahi and his brother, Nikhil Wahi, just reached an agreement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to settle charges arising from an insider trading scheme involving crypto assets.

In July of 2022, the SEC filed a complaint accusing Ishan Wahi of giving his brother and a friend, Sameer Raman, confidential information about which crypto assets were to be supported by Coinbase.

The price of crypto assets often goes up once their listing on the platform is announced. Nikhil Wahi and Raman then bought tokens based on the insider tip enabling the trio to amass $1.5 million in illicit profits. The securities regulator says that nine of the 25 crypto assets bought are securities.

According to the SEC, the Wahi brothers agreed not to deny the agencys allegations as part of the settlement.

Gurbir S. Grewal, Director of the SECs Division of Enforcement, says that while the technology involved in the case is new, the scheme is essentially classic insider trading.