A Texas federal court has determined that crypto influencer Ian Balina violated securities laws by selling unregistered securities to US investors.
On May 22, Judge David Alan Ezra ruled in favor of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in its case against Balina, finding that Spakster (SPRK) tokens are indeed securities.
The SEC had filed the lawsuit in 2022, accusing Balina of illegally promoting and selling the tokens.
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Judge Ezra's decision was based on the Howey test, which defines an investment contract as a situation where investors pool their money into a common enterprise with the expectation of profits generated by others' efforts. The court concluded that SPRK met these criteria.
The court also sided with the SEC's argument that Balina specifically targeted US investors, dismissing Balina's claim that the SEC lacked jurisdiction since the sales took place overseas.
However, the court did not support the SEC's accusation that Balina failed to disclose a compensation agreement with Sparkster CEO Sajjad Daya, citing inconsistencies in the evidence presented.
According to the SEC, between May and July 2018, Balina purchased $5 million worth of SPRK tokens, promoted them across social media, and created a Telegram group to pool investments for the tokens.
The SEC alleged that Balina did not inform investors about a 30% bonus he received for his token purchases. Balina countered that the bonus was simply a volume discount typical in private presales.
Sparkster, which marketed itself as a blockchain application development platform requiring minimal coding, conducted its initial coin offering (ICO) for SPRK tokens from April to July 2018.
By September 2022, Sparkster had reached a settlement with the SEC, agreeing to destroy its remaining SPRK tokens and remove them from trading platforms without admitting or denying the SEC's claims. As part of the settlement, Sparkster was ordered to pay $30 million in disgorgement, $4.6 million in interest, and a $500,000 civil penalty.
This case underscores the SEC's ongoing efforts to regulate the crypto market and enforce securities laws.
In related news, the SEC has issued a Wells notice against Uniswap, alleging it operates as an unregistered securities exchange. Uniswap has recently released a statement refuting these claims.
