TL;DR
- The SEC has officially dropped its lawsuit against Nova Labs, marking a favorable precedent for Helium and preventing the regulator from filing similar charges again in the future.
- The HNT token is currently trading at $2.90, with a positive return of 5.32% over the past 24 hours and a market capitalization of $521.83 million.
- Backed by a new crypto-friendly SEC leadership, Helium sees its business model validated, including the issuance of tokens like HNT, IOT, and MOBILE, as well as the distribution of compatible hotspots.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has decided to formally and permanently drop its lawsuit against Nova Labs, the team behind the Helium project. The case, originally filed in January 2025, accused the company of issuing unregistered securities through its HNT token. Being dismissed “with prejudice” means the SEC is legally barred from reopening the case or filing similar charges in the future, a major win for the decentralized tech sector.
This shift doesn’t happen in isolation. With Gary Gensler stepping down and Paul Atkins, a well-known supporter of blockchain innovation, taking over the SEC, the agency has begun to move in a direction that reflects a more supportive stance toward technological development and decentralization. Under this new leadership, other high-profile cases against firms like Ripple, Uniswap, and Coinbase have also been dropped.
Helium’s Legal Validation Restores Market Confidence
Nova Labs welcomed the decision as a strong validation of Helium’s business model, which includes not only the distribution of its native HNT token but also other assets like IOT and MOBILE, along with the sale of Helium-compatible hotspots. This infrastructure allows users to build decentralized wireless networks, currently supported by more than 375,000 active hotspots around the globe.
The market has already reacted positively to the news. HNT is now trading at $2.90, showing a 5.32% increase over the last 24 hours, and its market capitalization stands at $521.83 million. Although it still falls short of the more than $5 billion peak it reached in 2021, the trend now appears clearly bullish.
This resolution marks not just a legal reprieve for Helium, but also a signal of transformation in U.S. regulatory policy. The crypto sector celebrates not just an individual victory, but also the emerging possibility of building with greater legal certainty. Moreover, it reinforces the narrative that utility tokens, when properly structured and tied to real use cases like Helium’s, can withstand regulatory pressure. This outcome could encourage other developers and blockchain companies to keep innovating in the Web3 space without the looming threat of aggressive enforcement, potentially serving as a reference point for future cases within the crypto ecosystem.
