WAHI was arrested and charged in July 2022 and pled guilty earlier today before U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Ishan Wahi – a former Coinbase product manager – admitted in court today that he tipped others regarding Coinbase’s planned token listings so that they could trade in crypto assets for a profit.
Why did Ishan Wahi go to prison?
Prosecutors had called for Ishan Wahi to spend more than three years in prison to deter other cryptocurrency insiders from misusing corporate information. Prosecutors can charge fraud in instances in which deception was used to seek financial gain, regardless of the kind of asset involved.
Did Ishan Wahi commit wire fraud?
“It was not just a one-time event.” Ishan Wahi in February pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, admitting he passed tips about new offerings to his brother Nikhil and a friend, Sameer Ramani, who used the information to buy cryptocurrencies before Coinbase announced they would be listed.
What did Wahi do for Coinbase?
In that role, WAHI was involved in the highly confidential process of listing crypto assets on Coinbase’s exchanges and had detailed and advanced knowledge of which crypto assets Coinbase was planning to list and the timing of public announcements about those crypto asset listings.
