OpenSea Insider Faces Hard Time for Fraud
Former OpenSea product manager Nathaniel Chastain has been given a three-month prison sentence after being found guilty of wire fraud and money laundering related to insider trading on the platform. He’s also required to spend three months under house arrest and will be on supervised release for three years. Along with these penalties, he needs to pay a $50,000 fine and give up the Ethereum he gained from the nonfungible token (NFT) trades he made.
Chastain will have to surrender himself by November 2, following the decision made by a federal judge. However, his lawyers are planning to appeal the decision and request bail.
The judge recognized that while Chastain’s actions were against the law and should be punished, he also considered that Chastain is a first-time offender and has potential for a better future.
Chastain was convicted by a jury on May 3 for using inside information from his role at OpenSea to make profits from NFT trading. As a product manager, he had the power to select NFTs for the OpenSea website. He bought 45 NFTs before they were featured on the site and then sold them for a profit.
The case concluded with the recent sentencing by Judge Jesse Furman. Chastain was initially charged and arrested by U.S. authorities in June 2022 for his actions.
In a different case, former Coinbase product manager Ishan Wahi received a two-year prison sentence in May for using confidential information at the cryptocurrency exchange to make money from new token listings. Others were involved in this scheme as well, and some have already been sentenced, while one individual remains at large.