- NFT platform OpenSea has admitted that its Head of Product used insider information to trade NFTs on the platform
- Nate Chastain was caught buying NFTs before they hit the OpenSea front page and then selling them when they did
- OpenSea said it will investigate the incident, with Chastain almost certain to lose his job
NFT platform OpenSea has admitted that an executive at the company used his position to profit from NFTs listed on the platform. Head Of Product Nate Chastain was caught buying NFTs before they listed on the platform then sold them once they were added at a higher price. He was exposed by a Twitter user who found his “secrets wallets” and embarked on a lengthy tweet thread explaining what Chastain was up to. OpenSea issued an apology yesterday, saying that his actions did not “represent our values as a team” and announcing that a review into Chastain’s conduct was taking place.
Chastain Abused His Position to Increase Wealth
OpenSea has been one of the biggest gainers in the NFT movement, processing $4 billion dollars’ worth of NFT trades alone last month, and their front page is therefore a major way of getting exposure for an NFT or collection. However, as Twitter user Zuwu discovered yesterday, Chastain seemed to be using his position to enrich himself:
Hey @opensea why does it appear @natechastain has a few secret wallets that appears to buy your front page drops before they are listed, then sells them shortly after the front-page-hype spike for profits, and then tumbles them back to his main wallet with his punk on it?
— Zuwu🟩 👻🎃🦇 (@ZuwuTV) September 14, 2021
While Chastian’s activity was not hurting anyone, he was using a position of power to increase his gains, which qualifies as insider trading, something that regulators take very seriously in traditional markets and can lead to prison time. This revelation, and the further evidence that followed, led to a discussion over his actions on Twitter, discussions that illustrated why the crypto space is still full of charlatans:
Maybe it’s not exactly ethical, but I’d almost definitely do the same thing. It’s not like he’s stealing peoples shit, he just is in a unique position to know which projects are almost definitely gonna pump before they do.
Let’s be real, it’d be kinda dumb not to take advantage.— James Gruesome (@gruesome_james) September 15, 2021
Glad nate is sharp enough to secure the bag while building an empire.. don’t see anything wrong with this.
— Value & Time (@valueandtime) September 15, 2021
OpenSea Promises Investigation
Chastain has not commented on the matter publicly, and has not tweeted since his underhanded activity was discovered. OpenSea has however commented on the revelations in a blog post, OpenSea CEO and co-founder Devin Finzer calling out Chastain for his actions:
This is incredibly disappointing. We want to be clear that this behavior does not represent our values as a team. We are taking this very seriously and are conducting an immediate and thorough third party review of this incident so that we have a full understanding of the facts and additional steps we need to take.
Whether Chastain will face any criminal action remains to be seen, but it is highly likely that he will very soon be out of what must have been one of the most fun jobs in crypto, all because of greed.
