Blockchain Crime Update: First federal prison sentence handed down for digital asset "insider trading" in connection with wire fraud indictment. Defendant was sentenced to 10 months in federal prison for his participation in a scheme to commit insider trading in cryptocurrency assets by using confidential information from his brother, a former product manager at Coinbase. DOJ Press Release
"Beginning in approximately October 2020, [Defendant] obtained from his brother, an employee of Coinbase working on highly confidential crypto asset listings, secret tips about which crypto assets would be listed on Coinbase." Using that insider information, [Defendant] used anonymous Ethereum blockchain wallets and accounts held under pseudonyms at centralized cryptocurrency exchanges to acquire those crypto assets shortly before Coinbase publicly announced that it was listing these crypto assets on its exchanges. On multiple occasions following Coinbase’s public listing announcements, [Defendant] sold the crypto assets for a profit." "In addition to the prison sentence, Defendant ... was ordered to pay $892,500 in forfeiture."
