US prosecutors will not retry the OpenSea insider trading case against former platform manager Nathaniel Chastain after an appeals court overturned his convictions in July.
On Wednesday, prosecutors told a Manhattan federal court they reached a deferred prosecution agreement with Chastain. They said they will dismiss the case after the agreement ends in one month.
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In a letter, Manhattan US Attorney Jay Clayton wrote that prosecutors chose to defer and then drop the matter. He cited time Chastain already served and other terms of the deal.
Deferred prosecution agreement centers on time served and 15.98 ETH forfeiture
Clayton’s letter said Chastain already served part of his original sentence, including three months in prison. The letter also referenced a financial term tied to the alleged trading profits.
Under the agreement, Chastain agreed not to contest the forfeiture of 15.98 Ether (ETH).
Prosecutors said that amount was worth $47,330 and linked it to the alleged insider trades.
“The interest of the United States will be best served by deferring prosecution of this matter and not retrying the case,” Clayton wrote.
The report also referenced a court filing image and attributed it to PACER, the federal courts’ public records system.
The excerpt described the deferred prosecution agreement and the plan to dismiss later.
Nathaniel Chastain conviction and appeals court ruling reshape wire fraud claims
A jury convicted Nathaniel Chastain in 2023 on wire fraud and money laundering counts.
Prosecutors accused him of using internal knowledge about which NFTs would appear on OpenSea’s homepage.
They said he bought certain NFTs before they were featured. They also said he later sold them after prices rose from the added exposure.
Chastain later received a sentence of three months in prison. The court also imposed a $50,000 fine, according to the report.
However, the federal appeals court overturned the convictions in July. The court said the jury received flawed instructions.
The appeals ruling also addressed what counts as “property” under federal wire fraud laws. It said NFT homepage data without commercial value does not qualify as property for that statute, based on the report.
After the reversal, the new filing said Chastain will not be supervised by US Pretrial Services. The report added that he can apply to seek the return of the $50,000 fine and a $200 special assessment he paid after the original conviction in May 2023.
The case drew attention because prosecutors treated it as an early test for digital-asset market conduct.
The report said crypto advocates cited the overturned conviction while pushing for clearer legislation on how digital assets fit existing laws.
Finally, the report said Chastain’s case joins other crypto-related matters that federal agencies dropped under the Trump administration, which has said it plans to reduce regulation of the sector.
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Tatevik Avetisyan is an editor at Kriptoworld who covers emerging crypto trends, blockchain innovation, and altcoin developments. She is passionate about breaking down complex stories for a global audience and making digital finance more accessible.
📅 Published: January 23, 2026 • 🕓 Last updated: January 23, 2026
