Coinbase investigates Insider Trading due to suspicious Bitcoin Cash trades prior to listing
Bitcoin cash was listed on Coinbase yesterday, instigating a flurry of trading activity. Whilst this was not unexpected, what was very suspicious, was the run up in buy orders prior to the surprise listing.
Whilst Coinbase DID say they would be allowing users to access their Bitcoin Cash, accrued legitimately during the fork, they were simply going to allow users the ability to withdraw the coins, not buy and sell, as seen from their website chart:
CEO Brian Armstrong addressed allegations in a blog post:
"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."
Very disappointing and highly illegal if found to be true. We will see how this develops.
Credit to Philip at Trade Genius for the chart: