Insider trading at Coinbase, according to new research

Insider trading in cryptocurrency markets is a study article written by Ester Félez-Vias, Luke Johnson, and Tlis J. Putni, three researchers from Sydney, Australia, who claim that insider trading happens in 10–25% of cryptocurrency listings. The example study in the research article is the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase.

Cryptocurrency insider trading is worse than 

stock market insider trading

Insider trading in the cryptocurrency sector was previously largely disregarded due to lax regulation. This changed in July when the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed charges of wire fraud and insider trading against a Coinbase employee, his brother, and a friend of theirs.

These academics from the University of Technology Sydney used blockchain data in their study paper to locate insider traders who have not yet faced legal action. They examine all of Coinbase's listing announcements and procedures from September 2018 through May 2022 using an internet archive site.

They discovered that, on average, insider trading in cryptocurrency markets occurs more frequently than it does in stock markets, with earnings from insider trading typically estimated to be around 1003 ETH ($1.5 million). Selling the tokens soon after the listing announcement allows for this.

Additional issues for Coinbase

According to reports, Coinbase lost over $1 billion during the second quarter. The California-based company appears to be having financial difficulties as it just made one of the most surprising industry-wide layoffs, laying off over 1100 employees worldwide.

Additionally, it has decreased from the $462 billion it earned in 2021 to only approximately $217 billion, according to reports.