SEC and DOJ Bring First-Ever Crypto Insider Trading Case

Ex-Coinbase Employee and 2 Others Charged With Insider Trading of Crypto Assets

The prosecutors, as well as the Securities and Exchange Commission in civil charging documents, said Ishan Wahi, who at the time was part of a Coinbase team that listed assets on the exchange, passed on confidential information about when some cryptocurrency assets would be listed to his brother, Nikhil Wahi, and his brother’s friend Sammer Ramani.

Nikhil Wahi and Mr. Ramani used that information to buy the assets before Coinbase announced they’d be listed, the authorities said. After the announcement, the men sold the assets for a profit.

The alleged scheme came to light after Coinbase began an internal investigation in April in response to a post on Twitter about unusual trading.

Ishan Wahi booked a flight to India just before the company was to interview him in the investigation. The authorities said he had tipped off his brother and his brother’s friend about the interview as well. Mr. Wahi and his brother were arrested on Thursday morning in Seattle. Mr. Ramani remained at large, the authorities said.

SEC Charges Former Coinbase Manager, Two Others in Crypto Asset Insider Trading Action

The SEC’s complaint alleges that, while employed at Coinbase, Ishan Wahi helped to coordinate the platform’s public listing announcements that included what crypto assets or tokens would be made available for trading. According to the SEC’s complaint, Coinbase treated such information as confidential and warned its employees not to trade on the basis of, or tip others with, that information. However, from at least June 2021 to April 2022, in breach of his duties, Ishan repeatedly tipped the timing and content of upcoming listing announcements to his brother, Nikhil Wahi, and his friend, Sameer Ramani. Ahead of those announcements, which usually resulted in an increase in the assets’ prices, Nikhil Wahi and Ramani allegedly purchased at least 25 crypto assets, at least nine of which were securities, and then typically sold them shortly after the announcements for a profit. The long-running insider trading scheme generated illicit profits totaling more than $1.1 million.

SEC chief faces scrutiny from GOP over progressive agenda

The Securities and Exchange Commission run by a former Goldman Sachs investment banker Gary Gensler has become public enemy No. 1 for many House and Senate GOPers. They say his policies, which include newly proposed rules that force progressive edicts on the environment and other social issues near and dear to Democrats as well as expansive crypto regulation, far exceed his authority.

If the GOP takes Congress, it is planning an all-out assault against Gensler and his leadership at the SEC, Fox Business has learned after interviewing several key GOP lawmakers and others involved in Republican politics.

FBI says he ran a $59 million crypto Ponzi scam. It was much larger.

The Justice Department and Commodity Futures Trading Commission alleged that EminiFX, owned by Eddy Alexandre of New York, was a Ponzi-like scheme that promised participants guaranteed returns of at least 5 percent every single week.

Castleman said his investigation found that $250 million was collected from investors from September 2021 until May 2022 and that there were 62,000 EminiFX user accounts. Emil Bove, an attorney for Alexandre, did not respond to requests for comment. Alexandre entered a plea of not guilty, according to the Justice Department.

Based on Castleman’s forensic look at EminiFX, the sophistication of the platform and its production of what appear to be phantom returns is astounding.

Terra Founder Shin’s Home Raided as Korea Widens TerraUSD Crypto Probe

South Korean prosecutors raided the home of Terraform Labs co-founder Daniel Shin, deepening a probe into allegations of illegal activity behind the collapsed stablecoin TerraUSD.

A series of raids on crypto-exchanges and offices on Wednesday also included Shin’s home and his payment app Chai Corp., the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office said via a text message, confirming an earlier report from MBC News. Police also visited two affiliated firms, a spokesperson for the prosecutors said, declining to provide further detail in an ongoing investigation.

Blockchain Bros Should Beware India’s Crypto Crackdown

China has banned cryptocurrencies outright, and the West is looking to regulate them. India is taking a different approach: Tax them to death.

One of the world’s most spectacular crackdowns on cryptocurrencies has unfolded in the world’s second-most populous nation over the past several months. If other developing countries in Asia choose to take a similar approach, already suffering crypto investors could find themselves in for more pain in the months and years ahead.