The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has dropped its case against Token Metrics CEO Ian Balina over the alleged unregistered sale of securities.
In a joint stipulation filed in a Texas federal court, the SEC stated that it “believes the dismissal of this case is appropriate” and requested the court to close the case without awarding costs or fees to either party.
The Commission did not provide a specific reason for the dismissal and clarified that the decision “does not necessarily reflect the Commission’s position on any other case.”
What were the accusations against Balina?
The case dates back to 2022, when the SEC accused Balina of violating federal securities laws by promoting and reselling SPRK tokens linked to a project called “Sparkster”, without registering the offering or disclosing that he had received compensation for promoting the tokens.
Meanwhile, Balina, a well-known cryptocurrency influencer who rose to prominence during the 2017 ICO boom, had hinted at the case’s dismissal last month. In a March 13 post on X, he told followers, “It’s official,” that the SEC was dropping the case, framing it as a broader win for fairness in the crypto space. “This was never just about me,” he added.
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Balina is not the only crypto figure to have charges dropped. The SEC has recently withdrawn several high-profile enforcement actions, including cases involving major platforms such as Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, Robinhood, Uniswap, Gemini, and OpenSea.