The former head of product for NFT platform OpenSea has been arrested on fraud and money laundering charges. Nathaniel Chastain, former head of product for OpenSea, has been arrested in New York.
Chastain was previously accused of using secret Ethereum wallets to purchase NFT. According to the indictment, he was accused of being responsible for choosing which NFTs would appear on Chastain’s OpenSea homepage. According to the Justice Department’s indictment, Chastain sold NFTs for twice to five times the original purchase price after putting them on the homepage.
These operations continued from June 2021 to September 2021. While such activities are prohibited in traditional financial markets, it is unclear how these laws apply to the NFT field. Law enforcement stresses that these laws will be enforced in the same way. Lawyer Damian Williams said: “Although NFTs are new, they do not feature a criminal plot.
Nathaniel Chastain allegedly betrayed OpenSea by using his confidential business information to make money” FBI Deputy Director-General Michael J. Driscoll told the FBI “It will continue to have aggressive stances against actors who choose to manipulate the market” OpenSea reported in September last year. published a blog post acknowledging Chastain’s actions following the accusations.