Ian Balina, the founder of a cryptocurrency investment firm was charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) due to his promotions for an initial coin offering (ICO). As per SEC regulations, Balina was given incentives to conduct the promotion of SPARK tokens on his social media accounts. Balina has 1,40,000 followers on Twitter and 1,10,000 Youtube subscribers. He created his own private website in 2017 called ianbalina.com. These social media platforms created more benefits for Balina in promoting the SPARK token.
In 2018, the incorporated software development company in the Cayman Islands, Sparkster Limited, started collecting $30 million (USD) from nearly 4,000 investors in an unregistered method.
To settle the SEC charges for unregistered tokens and marketing of SPARK coins, CEO Sajad Daya and Sparkster decided to pay back $35 million (USD) to the investors who lost their assets by buying SPARK tokens.
According to the statement, “Mr. Balina did not receive compensation and there is ZERO proof of said allegations. Neither did Mr. Balina profit from his purchase of Sparkster tokens. If anything, Mr. Balina is a potential victim of fraud and misrepresentation from the Sparkster team, like other investors.”
When Balina came to know of the increasing growth of the crypto world, he decided to go around the different places in the world to promote the concept of the “Ian Balian Crypto World Tour” on his Youtube channel. Many tech startup companies have started to compete to be featured on his channel. One day in Amsterdam, the team Sparkster met Balina to promote the Sparkster team on his channel. Afterward, Balina started to promote Sparkster on his official social media platforms.
As per the data, SEC stated that before promoting the SPARK coin on the Balina social media platform, he asked Sparkster Ltd to issue the coin on his platform. The institution accepted the offer and allowed Balina to purchase $5 million (USD) worth of coins, plus he got a 30% bonus in tokens.
A United States court recently ordered six months of prison or to pay $4 million (USD) for San Francisco-based Jerry Ji Guo for his major role in a fraudulent initial coin offering (ICO).
Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2022/09/20/the-founder-of-a-crypto-research-firm-was-charged-by-the-sec/