Coinbase has won nearly $470,000 in restitution from the brother of its former product manager, Ishan Wahi, in the first insider trading case involving crypto.
The details in the New York District Court filing were made public a few days after the final decision.
- Ishan Wahi's brother, Nikhil Wahi, will also serve time in prison while making restitution payments.
- He is required to fully pay the restitution within the 20 years of his prison sentence.
- The restitution amount represents the amount spent by Coinbase on legal services for the investigation.
- The
lawsuit accused Ishan Wahi of informing his brother and an associate,
Sameer Ramani, about the new cryptocurrencies to be listed on Coinbase
before they were publicly announced.
- In
September 2022, Nikhil Wahi pleaded guilty to conducting trades based
on confidential information obtained from his brother due to his
position at the firm.
- Prosecutors
claimed that the listed cryptocurrencies caused Nikhil Wahi to generate
$892,500 in profit when they increased in value after the listing.
- Nikhil Wahi also must give these funds back to the U.S. government, according to the court filing.
