The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Dismisses Lawsuit Against Nova Labs
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has dismissed its lawsuit against Nova Labs, the company behind the Helium blockchain network, over alleged securities violations. The lawsuit had accused Nova Labs of illegally selling unregistered crypto tokens — HNT, IOT, and MOBILE — through the Helium Network.
Filed in January 2025, the case was one of the final actions under former SEC Chair Gary Gensler. The charges were dismissed with prejudice, meaning the SEC cannot reopen the same case. The dismissal came on April 10, the same day Paul Atkins, a Trump nominee, was sworn in as the new SEC Chair.
Nova Labs called the decision a “major win” in a blog post. The company said the ruling confirms that selling Helium-compatible hardware and distributing tokens for network growth does not classify the tokens as securities.
Nova Labs Settles for $200,000 in Fraud Case Over Misleading Corporate Ties
While the SEC has dropped charges, it fined Nova Labs $200,000 in a separate settlement. The fine resolves civil fraud charges over the company’s conduct during a $200 million fundraising round in 2021–2022.
The SEC accused Nova Labs of misleading investors by claiming major companies — including Nestle, Salesforce, and Lime — were using Helium’s technology. In reality, the SEC said those relationships were minor, dated, or non-existent by the time of the network’s launch in 2019.
According to the SEC, Nestle’s involvement was limited to a small hardware test in 2018. Lime attended only two product demonstrations, and later, both companies issued cease-and-desist letters to Nova Labs for using their names without permission.
Helium is a decentralized blockchain project that allows users to build and operate wireless networks using crypto-powered hotspots. The network currently hosts about 375,000 active hotspots worldwide.
Helium Native Token HNT Surged Over 11%
Following the news, the value of its native token, HNT, has surged over 11% with the token currently trading at $3. As of April 10, its market capitalization stands at $545 million — down from a peak of over $5 billion in 2021.
The Helium case shows the changing approach to crypto enforcement under the Trump administration. Since January, the SEC has dropped or reduced charges against several major crypto firms, including Ripple, Coinbase, Kraken, and Uniswap.
President Trump has pledged to make the U.S. a global leader in crypto. He has also ordered for the creation of a strategic crypto reserve. Still, not everyone in the crypto world agrees with all of Trump’s policies. Some industry leaders worry that his broad tariffs on imports, announced earlier in April, could hurt the sector’s growth.