SEC Dismisses Case Against Nova Labs Over Helium Tokens

Highlights:

• The SEC has dropped its case against Nova Labs over the Helium tokens HNT, MOBILE, and IOT.
• Nova Labs paid a penalty to settle claims about misleading fundraising details.
• New SEC leadership has also ended several other crypto cases since January under Trump’s direction.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has formally ended its lawsuit against Nova Labs. Specifically, the case involved claims that the firm sold unregistered securities related to the Helium network. The decision was made public on April 10 through a blog post by Helium. This legal action began in January 2025. At that time, it focused on the HNT, MOBILE, and IOT tokens. The SEC accused Nova Labs of violating federal laws by distributing these tokens in 2019.

👨‍⚖️ SEC Drops Lawsuit Against Helium Developer Over Unregistered Securities Claims

The SEC has officially dismissed its lawsuit against Nova Labs, the team behind the decentralized wireless network Helium.#crypto pic.twitter.com/DOT9y0p3Dm

— CryptOpus (@ImCryptOpus) April 11, 2025

The agency dismissed the case with prejudice. As a result, it cannot bring similar charges related to this matter in the future. This outcome follows several months of legal uncertainty for Nova Labs and the broader Helium community. Helium announced that the SEC’s dismissal confirms that the network’s distribution of HNT, MOBILE, and IOT tokens does not make them securities. The company also stated that compatible Helium Hotspots and token incentives used to grow the network are not considered securities either.

The value of its native token, HNT, reached over $5 billion in late 2021. However, it now sits closer to $538 million, according to CoinMarketCap. HNT is currently trading at $2.99, a 10.22% increase in the past day. In addition, the trading volume has surged 12.72% to $14.41 million.

SEC Leadership Shift Reflects Changing Approach to Crypto Cases

This legal decision marks the end of a case that was one of the final actions by the SEC under its former Chair, Gary Gensler. The SEC filed the lawsuit just days before Gensler stepped down on January 20. This came shortly after the inauguration of President Donald Trump.

The dismissal of the case comes shortly after Paul Atkins was confirmed as the new SEC Chair yesterday. Atkins, who was nominated by President Trump, is expected to guide the agency in a different direction than his predecessor. Since Trump took office in January, the SEC has ended legal action against several major crypto firms, including Coinbase, Kraken, Ripple, Consensys, and Uniswap.

Helium said in its April 10 post that the outcome provides much-needed certainty. Specifically, it benefits projects that use tokens to support physical network development. The post added that distributing tokens to encourage user participation in a network does not mean those tokens are securities. The decision could influence other crypto-related infrastructure projects that reward users with tokens in exchange for building and maintaining real-world systems.

Moreover, SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda announced on April 5 that the agency is also reviewing five other previous staff-issued statements, including five that were issued in regard to digital assets. The documents under review include past statements from multiple SEC divisions and a 2019 framework that evaluated token sales under the Howey test. The SEC also released updated guidance on April 4, stating that certain fiat-backed stablecoins are not considered securities and do not need to meet reporting requirements.

Nova Labs Settles Fundraising Claims

While the main case was dismissed, Nova Labs agreed to pay a $200,000 civil penalty to settle other charges. The SEC claimed that the company had exaggerated partnerships with companies like Nestle, Salesforce, and Lime during a 2021–2022 fundraising round. These claims were used to raise investment at a $1 billion valuation.