Former Opensea Exec Indicted in the First Case of NFT Insider Trading

Former employee of NFT marketplace Opensea charged in first ever digital asset insider trading scheme.

Nate Chastain, former product lead at Opensea, was charged Wednesday with wire fraud and money laundering in connection with a scheme to commit insider trading in Non-Fungible Tokens, or “NFTs,” by using confidential information about what NFTs were going to be featured on OpenSea’s homepage for his personal financial gain, the Department of Justice said in a press release. The two charges each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Chastain was the first point of contact, and often times champion for many in the NFT community during his time at Opensea. This is the first time we’ve seen the justice department come down hard on someone for insider trading of digital assets, but we are sure it won’t be the last.