The judge said that securities laws apply to Ian Balina and that SPRK tokens satisfied the requirements of the Howey Test, a 1946 U.S. Supreme Court case usually used by the SEC in matters concerning crypto, to ascertain if an asset qualifies as an investment contract and, so, a security.

The judge decided, “The Court holds as a matter of law that U.S. securities laws apply to Balina’s conduct and that the SPRK tokens are securities.”

September 2022 saw Balina accused over his engagement in an unlicensed initial coin offering (ICO). The claims made by the SEC mostly revolve around the ICO for Sparkster, presented as a “no-code” development tool. The network denied or admitted nothing about the SEC’s conclusions; however, it agreed to sell off its last tokens in 2022.

Balina bought $5 million worth of SPRK tokens and pushed them on YouTube, Telegram, and other social media sites, according to the SEC. The agency also said Balina neglected to tell Sparkster he committed to paying a thirty percent bonus on the tokens he purchased “as consideration for his promotional activities.” Balina also allegedly set up an “investing pool” of roughly 68 people, to whom he sold those tokens. The SEC noted that Balina should have filed the offer.

Balina answered the need for comments slowly at first.

Balina termed the SEC’s claims “an unfounded effort based upon multiple misconceptions of fact and law” on his website.

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