Remember NFTs? They were like Pogs, but you could only look at them. Well, there's an online marketplace for them called OpenSea, and it would highlight specific NFTs, which typically caused their price to increase. One employee is responsible for choosing which NFTs to highlight, and he has the clever idea to highlight NFTs that he has already purchased anonymously. He sells them and ends up making $57k. He's found out, fired, and convicted of wire fraud. Federal prosecutors had labeled the case the first crypto insider trading prosecution in the U.S. Second Circuit: Reversed! Because OpenSea doesn't buy or sell NFTs—it earns a commission on their sale—his insider trading didn't deprive OpenSea of any property.
The case is United States v. Chastain, No. 23-7038 (2d Cir. July 31, 2025).