By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell Book
BBC-Guardian UK - Honduras - ESPN NY Mag
SDNY COURTHOUSE, June 15 – Already there are several civil Non-Fungible Token cases in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
On June 1, a criminal case was unsealed, charging NATHANIEL CHASTAIN, a former product manager at Ozone Networks, Inc. d/b/a OpenSea (“OpenSea”), with wire fraud and money laundering in connection with a scheme to commit insider trading in Non-Fungible Tokens, or “NFTs,” by using confidential information about what NFTs were going to be featured on OpenSea’s homepage for his personal financial gain. CHASTAIN was arrested this morning in New York, New York and will be presented today in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York."
When he was presented, before U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Magistrate Judge Barbara C. Moses, Chastain was allowed to leave after signing a $100,000 bond. He can travel throughout the continental US, but urinanalysis was ordered to test for drugs.
On June 15, Chastain was arraigned before Judge Jesse M. Furman. Discovery includes three phones; there was no post arrest statement. But Chastain's lawyer took the opportunity to ask how it could be insider trader if NFTs are neither securities nor commodities.
Judge Furman set a schedule for a motion to dismiss, to be followed by separate motions to suppress, if any, then a conference then might include oral argument on October 27 at 3:30. Judge Furman said he rarely holds oral argument in such circumstances but this case might benefit from it. Inner City Press will continue to cover it.
The case is US v. Chastain, 22-cr-305 (Furman / Moses)
***
Your support means a lot. As little as $5 a month helps keep us going and grants you access to exclusive bonus material on our Patreon page. Click here to become a patron.
