First Insider Trading Case Victory Sees Coinbase Awarded $470,000

On April 11, it was reported that Coinbase had been awarded almost $470,000 in damages following a guilty plea in a Manhattan court.

The case involved a crypto trader who took tips from his brother who worked at Coinbase Global.

According to U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska, Nikhil Wahi was ordered to pay the sum to Coinbase to cover its legal fees and expenses in pursuing the case.

Wahi had been previously sentenced to 10 months in prison and ordered to forfeit $892,500 in illegal trading gains, according to reports.

Coinbase Legal Expenses Covered

Furthermore, the brother Ishan Wahi, who was a manager at Coinbase, also pleaded guilty to criminal charges. He would tip off his brother on planned token listings enabling him to buy them before the inevitable pump.

Ishan Wahi is still in court with the Securities and Exchange Commission, arguing that the regulator cannot sue him because cryptocurrencies have not been legally categorized as securities. However, the pair is likely to reach a settlement with the securities regulator.

The case marks an industry first where a crypto exchange has been awarded recompense for insider trading activities.

In related news, Coinbase executive Vishal Gupta has left the company after serving as the head of exchange for almost three years.

His move comes amid increasing scrutiny from U.S. financial regulators and the threat of enforcement action from the SEC. The regulator is going after Coinbase’s staking services with the same allegation that it is offering yields on unregistered securities.

Analysts are expecting Coinbase stock to rise after the Ethereum Shapella upgrade as staking deposits increase. The exchange takes a whopping 25% commission on ETH staking yields which are all good for the firm’s bottom line.

Crypto Market Outlook

Crypto market capitalization has remained flat over the past 24 hours following Bitcoin’s pump to $30,000. As a result, it remains at $1.28 trillion and a ten-month high.

Most crypto assets are cooling a little following this week’s gains. BTC is trading flat at $30,178, while Ethereum has retreated 2.4% to $1,885, according to CoinGecko.