Coinbase Looks at Insider Trading After Offering Bitcoin Cash
- Cash price surges in hours before official announcement
- Bitcoin suffers worst drop since futures trading started
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Coinbase Inc., one of the most popular U.S. cryptocurrency exchanges, is investigating allegations of insider trading on its platform in the hours before the company announced it would enable purchases of the bitcoin spinoff known as bitcoin cash.
Bitcoin cash surged in the hours before the San Francisco-based company’s announcement, while bitcoin prices tumbled the most in two months. Bitcoin cash added to gains once Coinbase posted the news on its website at 7:07 p.m. Tuesday in New York. It traded higher by 45 percent to $3,435.36 as of 9 a.m., according to data compiled from coinmarketcap.com. Bitcoin hovered near $17,000 after falling as much as 10 percent.