an ex coin base The product manager was sentenced to two years in prison Tuesday on two counts of conspiracy related to what the Justice Department called the "first cryptocurrency insider trading scheme."
Ishan Wahi, 32, pleaded guilty in February after being indicted last year for the scheme, which involved telling his brother and a friend which cryptocurrencies were to be listed on cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase on at least 14 occasions. . The scheme generated net earnings for the trio of around $1.5 million, according to the DOJ.
"Today's ruling should send a strong signal to all participants in the cryptocurrency markets that the laws definitely apply to them," Damian Williams, US attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Tuesday. statement.
Wahi's lawyers did not immediately respond to Fortunerequest for comments.
Although each charge respectively carried a maximum sentence of 20 years, prosecutors asked that he face 36 to 47 months, three to four years, in prison as part of a plea deal. Reuters reported.
In April, Wahi asked a lighter phrase similar to his brother's, Nikhil Wahi, 27, who was sentenced to 10 months in prison and ordered to pay $892,500 in forfeiture after pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud conspiracy. The other person Wahi gave information to, Sameer Ramani, has been charged but remains at large.
Lawyers said in a memo in April that Ishan Wahi had accepted full responsibility for his role in the scheme and that ruining his reputation was already punishment.
โIshan's acceptance of responsibility has been prompt, candid and complete,โ Wahi's lawyers wrote in a memo last month.
After Coinbase investigated suspicious transactions, Wahi was called into a meeting last year. Wahi tipped off his brother Nikhil Wahi and Ramani about the Coinbase investigation and bought a plane ticket to India He was set to leave hours before the meeting. Before boarding, Wahi was detained by the police.
The Wahi case comes after Nate Chastain, a former employee of the NFT OpenSea marketplace was found guilty of wire fraud and money laundering in the first case of "insider trading" involving NFTs. Chastain was found guilty of using inside information he had about which NFTs would be listed on the OpenSea home page to personally pocket thousands of dollars. Sentencing is set for August 22.
In the most high-profile cryptocurrency case, lawyers for disgraced FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried argued in a overnight presentation that all but three of the now thirteen charges against him must be fired.
