Ishan Wahi, a former product manager at Coinbase Global, has pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with a scheme of insider trading in cryptocurrency assets.

Mr Wahi pleaded guilty before United States District Judge Loretta A. Preska on Tuesday. 

He was accused of using confidential Coinbase information about which crypto assets were scheduled to be listed on Coinbase’s exchanges.  

Mr Wahi was said to have admitted that he tipped others regarding Coinbase’s planned token listings so that they could trade in crypto assets for a profit. 

The offence, with each carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, was further disclosed in the indictment and statements of the public court proceedings made available by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, in a release. 

Mr Wahi is the first to admit guilt in an insider trading case involving the cryptocurrency markets. 

Between June 2021 and April 2022, Mr Wahi provided confidential business information that he learned in connection with his employment with Sameer Ramani.

Both men’s missions secretly engaged in profitable trades around public announcements by Coinbase that it would be listing certain crypto assets on Coinbase’s exchanges. 

Messrs Wahi and Ramani on multiple occasions sold the crypto assets for a profit. 

The 32 years old was arrested and charged to court in July 2022. 

Coinbase was one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world.  

It was gathered that its users could acquire, exchange, and sell various crypto assets through online user accounts with Coinbase.