The Department of Justice Goes After Its First NFT Insider Trading Case - Ep 359

Jason Gottlieb, a crypto attorney and partner at Morrison Cohen, discusses the insider trading case being built by the US Department of Justice against former OpenSea employee Nathaniel Chastain. Show topics:
why Nathaniel is being charged with wire fraud and money laundering instead of insider trading
what makes NFT insider trading different from usual insider trading indictments
why an employee’s “duty of confidentiality” can be important when building an insider trading case
whether the money laundering charge makes sense 
whether moving money between self-custodied wallets constitutes money laundering
why Jason does not think this particular case will have widespread implications for the NFT and crypto space
Jason’s advice for employees at crypto exchanges and companies who may be tempted to trade on private information
what happens next in the Chastain case
why the potential sentences are so long – 20 years for each charge
how likely it is that Chastain has to serve jail time
 
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Episode Links
 
Jason Gottlieb
Website: https://www.morrisoncohen.com/jgottlieb

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ohaiom 
 
Department of Justice Press Release

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/former-employee-nft-marketplace-charged-first-ever-digital-asset-insider-trading-scheme 
 
Nathaniel Chastain
Arrest
https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/06/01/us-charges-ex-opensea-exec-with-nft-insider-trading/
https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/149685/former-head-of-product-for-opensea-indicted-after-insider-trading-scandal

Resignation
https://www.coindesk.com/business/2021/09/16/opensea-exec-accused-of-insider-trading-leaves-company/

Insider trading allegations
https://www.coindesk.com/business/2021/09/15/insider-trading-allegations-rock-opensea-nft-marketplace-responds/

Twitter

https://twitter.com/natechastain 

 
Insider Trading and Crypto
https://www.morrisoncohen.com/siteFiles/files/Insider%20Trading%20and%20Cryptocurrency%20-%20A%20Primer%20for%20Traders.pdf
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=132529
 
Taylor Monahan Recap of the Case

https://twitter.com/tayvano_/status/1532085029857284101 

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