The unregistered securities offering lawsuit against crypto YouTuber Ian balina is being considered for dismissal by the SEC, marking the agency’s most recent step in scaling back its crypto enforcement actions.
Another crypto lawsuit has been filed to be dropped by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, this time involving the unregistered securities sales case against crypto influencer and YouTuber Ian Balina.
A joint stipulation was filed by the SEC on May 1 with Balina to an Austin federal court, where it was stated that the dismissal of the case was deemed appropriate, referencing the efforts of the agency’s Crypto Task Force.
The reason for the agency’s desire to dismiss the case was not provided, but it was stated that the decision “does not necessarily reflect the Commission’s position on any other case.”
It was told by Balina in March that the SEC had informed him of its intention to recommend the dismissal of the case and claimed that the agency’s actions were influenced by a shift in its priorities.
It was stated by Balina, “Obviously, the new administration is pro-crypto.” A change in leadership at the SEC has occurred under US President Donald Trump, who appointed former crypto lobbyist Paul Atkins as the agency’s chair.
It was argued in the joint stipulation that dismissing the case would also conserve the court’s resources, “without costs or fees to either party.”
Balina, CEO of Token Metrics, a crypto influencer with 140,000 followers on X, and a YouTuber, was accused by the SEC of improperly promoting crypto projects, especially during the initial coin offering (ICO) boom around 2017.
In 2022, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Balina, accusing him of conducting an unregistered securities offering for Sparkster (SPRK) tokens when an investing pool was formed on Telegram in 2018.
It was claimed by the SEC that US-based investors took part in Balina’s investing pool, using Ether (ETH), which was validated by a network of nodes that were more densely clustered in the United States than in any other country.
The SEC’s position was supported by the court, which ruled in May 2024 that SPRK qualified as an investment contract under US securities laws, where investors pooled funds into a common enterprise with the expectation of profits derived from the efforts of others.
The latest move is part of a series of crypto-related court actions that have been quashed, following the Trump administration’s favorable stance toward the industry.
Over the past month, several cases have been dropped, and multiple investigations against crypto firms, including Coinbase, Ripple, Kraken, Opensea, and PayPal’s stablecoin, have been abandoned.
