First NFT insider trading case in US involves former OpenSea employee with knowledge of homepage placement

  • A former OpenSea worker is accused of secretly buying 45 NFTs on 11 separate occasions based on information that they would be featured on the site’s homepage
  • OpenSea asked Nathaniel Chastain, who has pleaded not guilty, to leave the company after an internal investigation, the company said

A banner image for OpenSea, the world’s largest NFT marketplace. Photo: Handout

US prosecutors in Manhattan on Wednesday charged a former product manager at OpenSea, the largest online marketplace for non-fungible tokens, with insider trading, the first such case involving digital assets.

Nathaniel Chastain, 31, of Manhattan, was accused of secretly buying 45 NFTs on 11 separate occasions based on confidential information that the tokens, or others by the same creator, would soon be featured on OpenSea’s homepage.
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