US prosecutors said they will not retry the insider trading case against former OpenSea manager Nathaniel Chastain after an appeals court overturned his convictions.
The Justice Department informed a Manhattan federal court that it entered a deferred prosecution agreement with Chastain and will dismiss the case after one month.
Manhattan US Attorney Jay Clayton said the decision reflected time Chastain already served, including three months in prison.
“The interest of the United States will be best served by deferring prosecution of this matter and not retrying the case,”
Clayton said.
Chastain agreed not to contest the forfeiture of 15.98 Ether allegedly earned through insider NFT trades.
A jury convicted Chastain in 2023 of wire fraud and money laundering linked to buying NFTs before they were featured on OpenSea and selling them after price increases.
A federal appeals court overturned the conviction in July, ruling jurors received flawed instructions and that NFT homepage placement data did not qualify as property under wire fraud laws.
The case was the first digital asset insider trading prosecution in the United States and has fuelled calls for clearer crypto legislation.
Chastain will not face supervision and may seek the return of fines and assessments paid after his original conviction.
The decision adds to a growing number of crypto-related cases dropped by US authorities under the current administration.
At the time of reporting, Ethereum price was $2,936.54.