US government accuses famous IT blogger of cryptocurrency fraud

In 2018, the SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) indicted cryptocurrency influencer Jan Balina for an unregistered ICO (a form of investment attraction or «initial token offering» — ed.) The regulator claims that four years ago, Balina violated securities regulations, and the losses amounted to $ 30 million.

The well-known crypto promoter called the SEC’s charges against him frivolous, saying on Twitter that he was «excited to take this fight public.»

Excited to take this fight public.

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

If investing in a private sale at a discount is a crime, the entire crypto VC space is in trouble.

Turned down settlement so they have to prove themselves.? pic.twitter.com/lVaqnnsLgT

— Ian Balina (@DiaryofaMadeMan) September 19, 2022

The SEC filed charges against the promoter yesterday, September 19. According to the complaint, Balina advertised unregistered SPRK token securities without disclosing that he received money for it. The SEC also accused the crypto investor of failing to file a registration statement with the SEC after forming an investment pool for SPRK tokens on Telegram. «The SEC’s accusations set a bad precedent for the entire crypto industry. If investing in a private sale is a crime, the entire cryptocurrency venture capital space is in trouble ,» Balina said sarcastically.

Balina became widely known in the industry during the ICO boom from 2017 to 2018. The blogger lost $ 2 million in cryptocurrency assets as a result of a hacker attack during a live ICO broadcast on YouTube. Interestingly, one of the viewers of the broadcast warned Balina about the hack, but the blogger thought he was being trolled by hackers.

Jan Balina remains active in the cryptocurrency industry and is currently promoting NFTs for his Token Metrics project. The blogger has about 143,000 followers on Twitter and 110,000 subscribers on YouTube, and his books are bestsellers on Amazon and Audible. Despite his problems with the SEC, he is a sought-after speaker at various cryptocurrency conferences and is invited for interviews by popular publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and others.