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ARTICLE · 07 JUNE 2022

US DOJ Brings Its First-Ever Insider Trading Prosecution Involving Digital Assets

Mayer Brown
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The Department of Justice (DOJ) continues to position itself as the principal law enforcement agency focused on the investigation and enforcement of digital asset-related offenses with...

United StatesTechnology
Gina M. Parlovecchio
Gina M. Parlovecchio
Glen A. Kopp
Glen A. Kopp
Christopher B. Leach
Christopher B. Leach
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The Department of Justice (DOJ) continues to position itself as the principal law enforcement agency focused on the investigation and enforcement of digital asset-related offenses with its first-ever insider trading prosecution involving digital assets. On June 1, 2022, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) unsealed an indictment charging a former employee of a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) marketplace called OpenSea with insider trading in relation to the employee's alleged use of confidential information about what NFTs were going to be featured on OpenSea's homepage for his own personal financial gain.1

Background

An NFT is a tradeable digital asset in the form of an original digital image, audio or other artifact that has its ownership recorded on the blockchain. Following the surge in popularity of cryptocurrency, the NFT market has similarly experienced explosive growth since 2021, with sales rising by 21,000% in just one year

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