A former product manager at Coinbase has pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in what's believed to be the first crypto-related insider trading case in the US. Ishan Wahi initially pleaded not guilty last year.
Federal prosecutors claim that, on at least 14 occasions, Wahi shared confidential information with his brother Nikhil Wahi and friend Sammer Ramani about cryptocurrencies that Coinbase was planning to let its users trade so the pair could buy them in advance. Once Coinbase announced that it would list the tokens, their values rose. Nikhil Wahi and Ramani are said to have then sold the assets to make a profit. The scheme allegedly generated north of $1.5 million in ill-gotten gains.