The founder of a cryptocurrency investment research firm was accused by the SEC of promoting an initial coin offering without disclosing that he had been paid $5 million to do so. Ian Balina, 33, promoted the SPRK token on social media platforms including YouTube and Telegram without revealing that he had been paid by the company that offered it, the Securities and Exchange Commission said in a suit filed Monday in federal court in Austin, Texas. While the SEC didn’t identify Balina’s firm, the description matches that of Token Metrics, an Austin-based firm that provides “AI-based cryptocurrency ratings and price ... (full story)