U.S. prosecutors will no longer retry the OpenSea insider trading case, reaching a deferred prosecution agreement with former executive Chastain
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U.S. prosecutors will no longer retry the OpenSea insider trading case, reaching a deferred prosecution agreement with former executive Chastain
According to Cointelegraph, the U.S. Department of Justice will no longer retry the insider trading case against Nathaniel Chastain, former manager of the non-fungible token (NFT) platform OpenSea. On Wednesday, federal prosecutors notified the Manhattan federal court that they had reached a deferred prosecution agreement with Chastain and would dismiss the case one month later. Chastain was convicted in 2023 of wire fraud and money laundering for using his position to purchase NFTs ahead of their featured placement on OpenSea's homepage, then selling them for profit after prices rose. However, a federal appeals court overturned the conviction in July this year, ruling that the jury had received improper instructions and that the NFT homepage data lacked commercial value, failing to meet the legal definition of property under federal wire fraud statutes. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton stated that, considering Chastain has already served three months in prison and agreed not to contest the forfeiture of 15.98 ether valued at $47,330, the decision was made not to pursue a retrial.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsTechFlow News, January 23: According to a Cointelegraph report, the U.S. Department of Justice will no longer retry the insider trading case against Nathaniel Chastain, former manager of the non-fungible token (NFT) platform OpenSea. On Wednesday, the Manhattan federal court received notice from prosecutors stating that they have reached a deferred prosecution agreement with Chastain and will dismiss the case one month later.
Previously, Chastain was convicted in 2023 of wire fraud and money laundering for using his position to purchase NFTs slated for featured display on OpenSea’s homepage and subsequently selling them for profit after their prices rose. However, in July this year, the federal appellate court overturned the conviction, ruling that the jury had received improper instructions and that data regarding OpenSea’s homepage placements lacked commercial value—and thus did not meet the definition of “property” under the federal wire fraud statute.
Jay Clayton, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, stated that, considering Chastain has already served three months in prison and agreed not to contest the forfeiture of 15.98 ether valued at $47,330, prosecutors have decided not to pursue a retrial.
