Three Charged With Insider Trading of Cryptocurrency Assets

According to charging documents filed on Thursday, federal authorities have filed criminal and civil charges against a former employee of the company and two other men.

According to federal prosecutors in Manhattan, the three men were involved in trades over a period of 10 months using information about 14 listings on Coinbase that generated over one million dollars in illegal profits. Three of the men were charged with wire fraud.

Damian Williams is the US attorney for the Southern District of New York.

The prosecutors, as well as the Securities and Exchange Commission in civil charging documents, gave confidential information to Ishan Wahi, who was part of a team that listed assets on the exchange.

The information was used to purchase the assets before the company announced they would be listed. The men sold their assets for money.

The alleged scheme came to light after an internal investigation was launched by the company.

Mr. Ishan Mr. The company was going to interview him as part of the investigation, but he booked a flight to India before they did. He tipped off his brother and his brother's friend. The brothers were taken into custody in Seattle on Thursday. The authorities said that Mr. Ramani is still on the run.

Lawyers for the brothers didn't reply to requests. He couldn't immediately be reached for comment. According to the S.E.C., Mr. Ramani is a Houston resident but is in India.

The charges suggest that federal authorities are prepared to crack down on illegal trading in the world of digital assets just like they have done in the stock, bond and commodity markets.

Mr. Williams, the U.S. attorney, said that fraud is fraud no matter where it occurs.

Many in the digital currency world have objected to the stance taken by the S.E.C. that the cryptocurrencies listed on the exchange are securities.

The use of confidential information to purchase another kind of digital assets was brought to the attention of federal prosecutors last month. The authorities charged a former employee of an NFT marketplace with stealing confidential information about the timing of public listings for the digital token.

Ian McGinley, a former Justice Department prosecutor, said that the two cases were just the beginning of the D.O.J.'s crack down on insider trading in thecryptocurrencies. D.O.J. brought them to send a message and they are watching.

The chief executive of the company said in a post that it had given information to the Justice Department and had ended the employment of one of the men. He wrote that they would not hesitate to take action against employees if they were found to have committed wrongdoing.