The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has dropped its securities fraud lawsuit against Nader Al-Naji, founder of the BitClout social platform.
The SEC originally charged Al-Naji in 2024 over the 2021 launch of BitClout, alleging he raised $257 million by selling unregistered BTCLT tokens and misused $7 million for personal expenses.
A parallel criminal investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice into wire fraud was also closed. Al-Naji confirmed the dismissal, calling prior claims about BitClout’s decentralization status damaging to innovation.
The case’s resolution follows the SEC’s recent retreat from aggressive crypto enforcement-including the dismissal of charges against Justin Sun-and clears the path for Al-Naji’s work on the DeSo network.