Ian Balina, a renowned crypto promoter, has described the SEC’s claims against him as baseless and said that he is “eager to take this battle public.”
On September 19, the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States filed accusations against the cryptocurrency promoter for breaking federal securities legislation.
In 2018, Balina reportedly marketed unregistered securities of SPRK tokens without revealing that he was compensated for the marketing.
In addition, the commission accused him of failing to submit a registration statement with the SEC after he formed an investment pool for the token on Telegram and resold the tokens through that platform.
Meanwhile, Balina said: “(The) SEC complaint sets a negative precedent for the whole cryptocurrency business. If buying in a private sale at a discount is a criminal, the whole crypto venture capital industry is in danger.”
Balina said that he rejected the regulator’s settlement offer. The SEC wants to reclaim his promotional income and pursue civil fines against him.
Throughout the ICO craze of 2017 and 2018, Balina garnered widespread industry recognition. On his YouTube channel, the former IBM and Deloitte data analytics professionals examined various initial coin offerings, which increased his fame.
He gained notoriety after losing $2 million worth of crypto assets to a hack while live streaming an ICO evaluation. A viewer informed him of the attack at the time, but he originally believed it was a hoax until realizing it was genuine.
Several participants in the cryptocurrency industry have expressed astonishment that the SEC is pursuing a case from 2018. However, others say he deserved it, particularly considering his deeds.
Balina is now pushing NFTs for his startup, Token Metrics, and stays engaged in the cryptocurrency industry.
Also Read: $160M Stolen From Wintermute In A Recent DeFi Hack
Wallets