The SEC's settlement poses no real additional penalties on the brothers. The intrigue: In what might be seen as a twist, both Coinbase (the employer Wahi had betrayed), the venture firm Paradigm, and the Blockchain Association filed amicus briefs in the SEC case, more on the side of the Wahi's than on the agency's side.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has settled with former Coinbase employee Ishan Wahi and an accomplice, in a case over the abuse of insider information from within the company. Why it matters: It resolves civil charges involving the first major insider trading incident at a prominent cryptocurrency company.

Coinbase ( COIN) exchange's former product manager Ishan Wahi and his brother Nikhil Wahi have agreed to settle insider trading charges filed by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC),eight weeks after reaching an"in-principle agreement to resolve the case.