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OpenSea Employee Resigns Amid Insider-Trading Scandal
By Sam Mangioni - News Published: , Last Updated:
NFT trading platform OpenSea has asked for and accepted the resignation of its own head of product, Nate Chastain, following allegations of exploiting information to make a profit. Chastain was reportedly caught using a secret Ethereum wallet to purchase front page NFT releases before they were published to the public.
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Image: NFT
In a company blog post, OpenSea issued a statement upon learning about the unethical activity. OpenSea wrote, “Yesterday, we learned that one of our employees purchased items that they knew were set to display on our front page before they appeared there publicly. Since the incident, the NFT marketplace has now implemented two new employee policies that ban them from buying or selling from creators that OpenSea features.
Hey @opensea why does it appear @natechastain has a few secret wallets that appears to buy your front page drops before they are listed, then sells them shortly after the front-page-hype spike for profits, and then tumbles them back to his main wallet with his punk on it?
— Zuwu (@0xZuwu) September 14, 2021
One Twitter user ZuwuTV called out Chastain after noticing transaction receipts on the public blockchain, which supposedly shows the former employees nefarious behaviour. On another crypto and blockchain platform, 8btc, sales reportedly tied to Chastain saw his account make a collective profit of USD$67,000 (AUD$92,000). OpenSea has stated they are “extremely disappointed” and will update the public as further information comes to light.
Not taking the situation lightly, the company has hired a third party to review unethical behaviour and recommend any changes that will prevent similar events in the future. No longer working for the company, it’s still unclear whether Chastain will receive further punishment or repercussions down the road.
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