Crypto promoter Ian Balina labels SEC charge ‘frivolous’, turns down settlement

Prominent cryptocurrency promoter Ian Ballina said he was “thrilled to take this fight public” and said the SEC charges against him were frivolous.

Excited to expose this fight.

This frivolous SEC charge sets a bad precedent for the crypto industry as a whole.

If investing in discounted private sales is a crime, the entire cryptocurrency VC space is at stake.

Having refused the settlement, they must prove themselves. 💯 pic.twitter.com/lVaqnnsLgT

— Ian Ballina (@DiaryofaMadeMan) September 19, 2022

Filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission price against a cryptocurrency promoter for violating federal securities laws on Sept. 19;

According to the complaint, Balina promoted unregistered SPRK token securities in 2018, but did not disclose that it received payment for the promotion.

The commission also accused him of reselling tokens after forming an investment pool of tokens on Telegram and failing to file a registration statement with the SEC.

Ballina, on the other hand, said:

“(This) SEC indictment sets a bad precedent for the entire crypto industry. If investing in discounted private sales is a crime, the entire crypto VC space is in trouble.”

Ballina has revealed that she has refused to settle with regulators.

The SEC wants to recoup his profits from the promotion and impose civil penalties on him.

Ballina gained widespread popularity within the industry during the 2017-2018 ICO boom. Previously his IBM and Deloitte data analytics expert reviewed several early coin his offerings on his YouTube channel, boosting his popularity.

He famously lost $2 million worth of crypto assets to a hack while livestreaming an ICO review. At the time, viewers warned him about the hack, which he initially thought was a troll before discovering it was real.

Meanwhile, some in the crypto industry have expressed surprise that the SEC has been tracking someone since 2018.

Ballina remains active in cryptocurrencies and is currently promoting NFTs for his project Token Metrics.