Cryptocurrency

"OpenSea product chief accused of flipping NFTs using insider information"

2021-09-15 [vendor] OpenSea insider trading allegation [chain] ethereum
Primary Source ↗
Blockchain(s) Ethereum

Incident Details

A Twitter sleuth discovers that OpenSea’s Head of Product, Nate Chastain, had apparently been engaging in a form of insider trading by buying NFTs that he knew would later be featured on the front page of OpenSea, then selling them once their value increased from the spotlight. The Twitter user identified a chain of transactions show Chastain laundering the transactions through several anonymous accounts. OpenSea posted a statement confirming the shady trades had taken place, and that they had requested and received the employee’s resignation, though they didn’t specifically name Chastain as the culprit. Chastain’s Twitter profile was updated shortly after, identifying him as a former OpenSea employee. OpenSea announced the next day that they had implemented policies preventing employees from trading on confidential information, which I guess they just hadn’t bothered to think about previously.

Technical Details

Vendor / Product
OpenSea insider trading allegation

Timeline

  1. 2021-09-15 Breach occurred
  2. 2021-09-15 Publicly disclosed