A former Coinbase Global employee pleaded guilty on 7 February to two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for his role in what prosecutors said was the first cryptocurrency insider-trading case.

Ishan Wahi, 32, told US District Judge Loretta Preska that he had conspired with others to misappropriate valuable confidential information that he gained from his job at Coinbase. His brother, Nikhil Wahi, and an associate then used that information to make trades on digital tokens, he said.