Crypto firm Sparkster and its CEO, Sajjad Daya, have agreed to a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over charges from its unregistered 2018 initial coin offering (ICO).

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According to a press release, Sparkster and Daya raised $30 million from 4,000 investors “by offering and selling crypto asset securities called SPRK tokens” between April and July 2018. They told investors the money would help develop its “no-code” software platform, and promised that SPRK tokens would increase in value.

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Sparkster and Daya received a cease-and-desist letter from the SEC on Monday and agreed to collectively pay more than $35 million into a fund for distribution to harmed investors.

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Sparkster will pay $30 million in disgorgement, $4,624,754 in prejudgment interest, and a $500,000 civil penalty. Daya will also pay a $250,000 civil penalty.

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Additionally, the firm has agreed to destroy its remaining tokens, remove its tokens from trading platforms, and publish the SEC’s order on its website and social media channels.

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The SEC also announced that it has “charged crypto influencer Ian Balina for failing to disclose compensation he received from Sparkster for publicly promoting its tokens and failing to file a registration statement with the SEC for Sparkster tokens that he resold.”

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Balina purchased $5 million SPRK tokens and promoted them on YouTube, Telegram, and other social media platforms. However, he failed to disclose that “Sparkster had agreed to provide him a 30 percent bonus on the tokens that he purchased, as consideration for his promotional efforts.”

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