• Nathaniel was responsible for selecting the NFTs that would be offered on the platform.
• The attorney argues he made the deals using anonymous OpenSea accounts.

On May 3 in a New York federal court, the former OpenSea manager who was suspected of insider trading of NFTs was found guilty of wire fraud and money laundering.

Prosecutors claim that former OpenSea product manager Nathaniel Chastain was responsible for selecting the NFTs that would be offered for sale on the platform. He allegedly made these choices, then acquired these NFTs to resell when they were highlighted. On June 1 he was charged with wire fraud and money laundering for these purported dealings.

Since it began on April 24th, attorneys who specialize in disputes involving cryptocurrencies have been paying close attention to the trial. Some legal experts have hypothesized that the outcome of this case could have repercussions for the way in which non-fungible tokens (NFTs) can be classified as securities or not.

Made Deals Using Anonymous Accounts

As the May 3 report states, defense attorney Daniel Filor said in Chastain’s closing comments that his client was innocent because “Nobody told Nate that he couldn’t use or share that information.”

Attorney for the state Allison Nichols countered that Chastain intentionally broke the law. She said he was so frightened of being caught that he made the deals using anonymous OpenSea accounts. This is the first time someone has been punished for trading non-fungible tokens using insider information.

Ishan Wahi, a former employee of Coinbase, and his brother Nikhil were also prosecuted in a separate case in July for insider trading in cryptocurrencies. On September 12th, Nikhil Wahi entered a guilty plea in that case.

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