SEC drops suit against Helium for alleged securities violations

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has dismissed a lawsuit against Nova Labs, developer of decentralized wireless network Helium, for allegedly issuing unregistered securities, Helium stated in an April 10 blog post. 

Filed in January 2025, the lawsuit was among the SEC’s final enforcement actions against a cryptocurrency developer under former Chair Gary Gensler, who stepped down from his post on Jan. 20 after US President Donald Trump took office. 

The dismissal with prejudice means the blockchain developer cannot be charged with similar violations again for issuing in 2019 its native token Helium (HNT), the company said. 

“[W]e can now definitively say that all compatible Helium Hotspots and the distribution of HNT, IOT, and MOBILE tokens through the Helium Network are not securities,” Helium said. 

“[T]he outcome establishes that selling hardware and distributing tokens for network growth does not automatically make them securities in the eyes of the SEC [and] that the SEC cannot bring these charges against Helium again,” it added.

Source: Helium

The SEC’s Helium reversal came the same day Trump-nominee Paul Atkins formally replaced Gensler as SEC Chair after a lengthy confirmation process in the Senate. 

Helium is a blockchain network designed to let “anyone build and own massive wireless networks,” according to its website. The protocol reports having roughly 375,000 active hotspots. 

According to CoinGecko, HNT has a market capitalization of approximately $480 million as of April 10 — down from highs of more than $5 billion in November 2021. 

HNT’s price since 2019. Source: CoinGecko

Related: SEC will drop its appeal against Ripple, CEO Garlinghouse says

Under Gensler, the SEC brought upward of 100 charges against Web3 developers for various alleged securities violations. 

Since Trump took office, the SEC has sharply reversed course, dropping numerous charges against crypto firms, including Coinbase, Kraken, Ripple and Uniswap. 

Trump has positioned himself as a pro-crypto President, promising to make America the “world’s crypto capital,” appointing industry-friendly leaders to key regulatory posts, and ordering the federal government to create a national Bitcoin (BTC) reserve.

For some crypto executives, Trump's policies — such as announcing sweeping tariffs on US imports in April — threaten to stymie crypto’s progress.

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