Crypto has picked an unlikely ally in its battle against oversight by Wall Street’s chief regulator: a former Coinbase Global Inc. employee convicted of insider trading.
Ishan Wahi, a former manager at Coinbase, pleaded guilty this year to giving his brother and a college friend trading tips that generated almost $1.5 million in illicit profits. An Indian immigrant, he could serve more than three years in prison and be deported after doing time.
But Mr. Wahi is still fighting the Securities and Exchange Commission, which sued him because it says some of the Coinbase assets were securities. The outcome of that civil case isn’t likely to change Mr. Wahi’s future, dimmed by his prosecution and likely imprisonment. But it could affect how digital assets are regulated in the U.S.
Source: Coinbase Ex-Manager Convicted of Insider Trading Is Crypto’s Latest Legal Hope – WSJ