Coinbase Will Investigate Insider Trading Allegations About Bitcoin Cash Launch

12/20/2017 - 10:50 UTC
Coinbase Will Investigate Insider Trading Allegations After Bitcoin Cash Launch

After the understandable uproar against Coinbase and GDAX, where BCH trading is halted, and price remains stuck at $9,500 without any reason, the CEO of Coinbase company addressed claims and accusations of insider trading and price manipulation regarding the Bitcoin Cash launch.

Read more: GDAX Starts Bitcoin Cash trading, BCH Price Skyrockets, and Sticks at $9,500

In a blog post published just a couple of hours ago, Brian Armstrong assures investors that he is planning to conduct an investigation into what exactly happened. Armstrong emphasized that he takes “the confidentiality of material non-public information very seriously as CEO.” He underlines that, as it happened in previous coin launches, “all Coinbase employees and contractors were explicitly prohibited from trading Bitcoin Cash and from disclosing our launch plans over a month ago.”

Armstrong seems sure there was no wrong-doing by his team, although he acknowledges there has been a significant increase in BCH price on other exchanges in the hours before Coinbase’s announcement. According to the blog post, any employee or contractor found in violation of company policies will be terminated, with the possibility of legal action.

Read the full post:

Our employee trading policy at Coinbase

Today we announced support for Bitcoin Cash (BCH). It appears the price of Bitcoin Cash on other exchanges increased in the hours before our announcement. While digital currency prices fluctuate quite a lot and we have no indication of any wrongdoing at this time, I wanted to share a few thoughts with our customers:

  • A bit about our internal trading and confidentiality policies
  • What we’re planning to do about the price movement today

We’ve had a trading policy in place for some time at Coinbase. The policy prohibits employees and contractors from trading on “material non-public information”, such as when a new asset will be added to our platform. In addition to trading restrictions, it prohibits communication of material non-public information outside the company. This includes to friends and family.

Our launch of Bitcoin Cash today is no exception to this. All Coinbase employees and contractors were explicitly prohibited from trading Bitcoin Cash and from disclosing our launch plans over a month ago. This was communicated multiple times via multiple channels to employees. For instance, I made sure it was emphasized at our Friday Q&A sessions, and in emails sent to all employees. I view it as a key part of my job to set the tone from the top about how we all must act to ensure success. The trading restriction, which applies to all personal trading activity on any platform, remains in effect now.

I take the confidentiality of material non-public information very seriously as CEO. Given the price increase in the hours leading up the announcement, we will be conducting an investigation into this matter. If we find evidence of any employee or contractor violating our policies — directly or indirectly — I will not hesitate to terminate the employee immediately and take appropriate legal action.

Our goal is to make Coinbase the most trusted and easiest to use digital currency exchange. We will only accomplish this goal by ensuring that we (the employees and contractors at Coinbase) all hold ourselves to a high standard of conduct.

Disclaimer: This article should not be taken as, and is not intended to provide, investment advice on Bitcoin, Cryptocurrencies or finance in general.