NY -- The brother of a former Coinbase product manager was sentenced to 10 months in prison Tuesday in what federal prosecutors have called the first cryptocurrency-related insider trading case.
Nikhil Wahi, 27, of Seattle, was sentenced in Manhattan federal court after pleading guilty in September to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Prosecutors said that Nikhil Wahi began around October 2020 receiving confidential advice from his brother, Ishan Wahi, then a product manager at Coinbase Global Inc., one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, and used the information to sell crypto assets for profit. .
Both the Wahi brothers and a friend, Sameer Ramani, were indicted in July in what federal prosecutor Damian Williams described as the first government insider trading case related to cryptocurrency markets.
Willams said Tuesday's ruling "makes it clear that cryptocurrency markets are not lawless. There are real consequences for illegal insider trading, wherever and whenever it occurs."
In addition to the prison sentence, Nikhil Wahi was ordered to pay $892,500.
Ishan Wahi has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and Ramani is on the run.
