- The ringleader of the Coinbase Three has pleaded guilty to insider trading
- Former product manager Ishan Wahi changed his plea this week having initially denied the charges
- Wahi and his two associates earned $1.5 million on his tip offs
The former Coinbase product manager charged with profiting from listings information has pleaded guilty to the crime after initially saying he didn’t do it. Ishan Wahi, 32, admitted to committing two counts of wire fraud conspiracy after initially denying the charges last year. He was part of a three-man gang that involved his brother, Nikhil, and an associate, who would buy up coins about to be announced by Coinbase and sell them after a pump. The case represents the first insider trading conviction regarding cryptocurrencies.
Coinbase Three Earned $1.5 Million From Insider Trading
Ishan Wahi was arrested in July 2022 trying to leave the U.S. having already told colleagues that he had done so, where he was taken into custody in Seattle, accused of providing inside information about Coinbase’s upcoming token listings to his brother Nikhil and friend Sameer Ramani.
Nikhil Wahi and Ramani were accused of using Ishan’s information to buy up the coins and sell if they pumped on the announcement, which they did at least 14 times before between June 2021 and April 2022. This earned them around $1.5 million.
Wahi Changed Tune in Plea Deal
Ishan denied the charges in August last year, with his lawyer arguing that insider trading requires securities or commodities, which cryptocurrencies are not, and also that Coinbase conducted testing on new tokens before their public listing, meaning that the information Wahi was accused of sharing was not confidential. However, this argument clearly failed to impress, with Ishan changing his plea six months later.
As part of a plea agreement, prosecutors are seeking a prison term ranging from 36-47 months, with sentencing set for May 10.
Ishan is facing a parallel charge from the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is using the opportunity to label the coins concerned as securities, because it just can’t help itself. Ishan had denied this accusation, saying that they represent an “abuse of power” by the agency.
