Nikhil Wahi, the brother of a former Coinbase product manager has been sentenced to 10 months in jail on charges of crypto.
The brother of a former product manager at Coinbase Global Inc. was convicted of participating in a scheme to profit from inside information about when the cryptocurrency exchange would approve new crypto tokens and make them available for trading to the general public.
Nikhil Wahi, the organizer of the illegal trading plan, received a sentence of 10 months in prison for his involvement in the scheme, which U.S. prosecutors have hailed as the first instance of insider trading involving cryptocurrency.
INSIDER TRADING AT COINBASE
Nikhil Wahi admitted in September of the previous year that he had made trades based on information that the American cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase had deemed to be exclusive.
Federal authorities in Manhattan accuse Ishan Wahi, a former product manager at Coinbase, of giving secret information about new crypto tokens that Coinbase planned to make available for users to trade to his brother and a mutual acquaintance, Sameer Ramani.
Wahi, according to the prosecution, used the knowledge he gained from his brother to invest in 40 different digital assets, accumulating close to $900,000. Judge Loretta Preska of the U.S. District Court delivered the decision. Nikhil confessed to the crime, and was overheard saying:
“I made a huge mistake, a terrible mistake. It’s something that I will have to live with forever.”
ALL PROFITS WILL BE RETURNED BY NIKHIL WAHI
Wahi has been mandated by Preska to forfeit the $892,525 in profits he made from the insider trading in addition to the sentence. In addition, he received a two-year probationary period.
If Wahi were found guilty, the prosecution asked for a maximum sixteen-month prison term. The judge was informed by the defense attorney, Priya Chaudhry, that Wahi was not motivated by greed but rather by a desire to make up to his Indian parents for paying for his college in the United States and to help them have a more secure retirement.
Wahi, who had hoped to avoid spending any jail time, will now be obliged to go back to India after completing his sentence.
