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Former Coinbase PM charged in cryptocurrency insider trading tipping scheme

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Re: Former Coinbase PM charged in cryptocurrency insider trading tipping scheme

#321
post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why you keep spamming that link here? That twitter thread is built on a layer of conjectures with nothing tangible.

I thought it was a good summary, and that people should see it. Have you read the CFTC's fines for Coinbase's wash trading between Litecoin/Bitcoin in 2016 to pump up volume? https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/8369-21 From the fine: >a former Coinbase employee used a manipulative or deceptive device by intentionally placing buy and sell orders in the Litecoin/Bitcoin trading pair on GDAX that matched each o…

There is nothing whatsoever that says that the given employee is Charlie Lee. Since you are the one here making that claim, isn't that exposing you to slander if it turns out to be a false? On top of it you seem confused by the two different things addressed by the linked CFTC statement, the litecoin related thing (Litecoin/Bitcoin trading pair) happened in August & September 2016 (6 weeks total) and you are confusing it with the inaccurate reports during January 2015 and September 2018 which is a separate point.

Re: Former Coinbase PM charged in cryptocurrency insider trading tipping scheme

#322
post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, not that I would ever do anything like this… but if I was accused of such a thing the last thing I would do is book a flight for tomorrow .

There was no way they were going to let him leave the country, no matter when he booked the flight. booking the flight made it easier to arrest him. the meeting was set-up by the feds to arrest him there instead, but he thought that leaving the country would work, which it obv. didn't.

> There was no way they were going to let him leave the country, no matter when he booked the flight

whatever his friend did is working so far. still at large.

Re: Former Coinbase PM charged in cryptocurrency insider trading tipping scheme

#323
post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was an HN thread about that tweet, at the time that it was tweeted: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31012462 ( "Insider Trading at Coinbase (twitter.com/cobie)" ) (3 months ago, 333 comments)

During which conversation a fairly large number of HN commenters thought that crypto insider trading wasn't illegal: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31012837

For some nuance, though, partly this has to do with lack of SEC enforcement on crypto as a security. My opinion then would have been that this should be insider trading, crypto should be classified as a security, and also that I wasn’t sure the SEC would classify this as insider trading.

Since the definition of insider trading is kind of, “whatever the SEC enforces”, it’s possible to believe that this is a security that was insider traded and also that it’s not “insider trading” in the only meaningful way (the SEC way.)

Re: Former Coinbase PM charged in cryptocurrency insider trading tipping scheme

#325

There's been a lot of shakedowns and refurnishings in the crypto landscape lately. The US seems to catch or point fingers at people left and right. Why is this happening now all of a sudden?

You're mixing two things. There has been a run of bankruptcies recently caused by the crypto price crash which itself was caused by macroeconomic factors. There has also been a slow but steady series of crypto enforcement actions over the last five years or so.

Re: Former Coinbase PM charged in cryptocurrency insider trading tipping scheme

#326
post #323
post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

During which conversation a fairly large number of HN commenters thought that crypto insider trading wasn't illegal: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31012837

For some nuance, though, partly this has to do with lack of SEC enforcement on crypto as a security. My opinion then would have been that this should be insider trading, crypto should be classified as a security, and also that I wasn’t sure the SEC would classify this as insider trading. Since the definition of insider trading is kind of, “whatever the SEC enforces”, it’s possible to believe that this is a security t…

Yeah I was about to say something similar. Our existing insider trading laws don't quite fit this situation, which is why they're being charged with "wire fraud conspiracy" instead of something more specific.

Re: Former Coinbase PM charged in cryptocurrency insider trading tipping scheme

#328

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Taking a large sum of cash would have probably been a trigger for the folks surveilling him, though. Maybe he could get away but that is going to trigger something.

Why the need for the large amount of cash? It's not that you can't access banking websites from abroad. Sure, his bank accounts might be frozen or off-boarded as a result of the investigation. But in general, you can always transfer your money and don't need to bring cash.

If you're expecting someone to call the police during or after the meeting where they ask you about the crimes you committed against them, you probably want to obtain enough spending money before you're officially a fugitive, rather than hope they won't cancel your credit card or use it to find out where you are in the coming days.

Though you'd have thought someone committing financial crimes in the crypto industry might have more scope for planning their offramp

Re: Former Coinbase PM charged in cryptocurrency insider trading tipping scheme

#329
post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought it was a good summary, and that people should see it. Have you read the CFTC's fines for Coinbase's wash trading between Litecoin/Bitcoin in 2016 to pump up volume? https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/8369-21 From the fine: >a former Coinbase employee used a manipulative or deceptive device by intentionally placing buy and sell orders in the Litecoin/Bitcoin trading pair on GDAX that matched each o…

There is nothing whatsoever that says that the given employee is Charlie Lee. Since you are the one here making that claim, isn't that exposing you to slander if it turns out to be a false? On top of it you seem confused by the two different things addressed by the linked CFTC statement, the litecoin related thing (Litecoin/Bitcoin trading pair) happened in August & September 2016 (6 weeks total) and you are confusin…

I included "According to the order, between January 2015 and September 2018, Coinbase recklessly delivered false, misleading, or inaccurate reports concerning transactions in digital assets" as extra evidence that Coinbase and it's employees have a history of untrustworthy behavior.

Re: Former Coinbase PM charged in cryptocurrency insider trading tipping scheme

#330
post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How can you stop someone driving to mexico? They can drive to a border city and walk across without any passport control.

It depends on the stage of the investigation. if he was only a suspect then could he leave whenever he wanted. However, if someone is already indicted but it's sealed, then he would have been under watch without anywhere to go. Or he could hve been stopped and brought before a magistrate. HIs mistake was he waited too long, probably should have left in april before the evidence came out, not May.

His mistake was to make those trades.
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