Four years after the end of the ICO hype, the responsible stock exchange supervisory authority SEC is still processing cases of violations of the US Securities Act. As the Securities and Exchange Commission said on Monday September 19, announced on their website, she accuses the well-known crypto influencer Ian Balina of advertising unregistered securities in the USA. This involves the sale of SPRK Token, a token promoted by Balina and operated by Sparkster, Ltd. designed crypto token that grossed around $30 million between April and July 2018.
The court document states:
Balina […] promoted the offered SPRK tokens on YouTube, Telegram and other social platforms. Although he agreed to receive a 30 percent bonus from Sparkster on the tokens he bought in the Sparkster offering, Balina has never publicly disclosed the compensation he received for his promotion.
Balina denies the allegations. The influencer, who has over 140,000 followers, writes on Twitter:
“There is no evidence that Mr. Balina received any additional money or benefits from Sparkster. Mr. Balina has lost money through his investment in Sparkster.”
The indictment against Ian Balina also shows that the SEC believes that Ethereum falls entirely under US jurisdiction.