The SEC has officially dropped its long-running case against Nader Al-Naji, the founder of BitClout, ending years of legal battles over allegations he misled investors.
The agency had accused Al-Naji of raising more than $257 million through the sale of BitClout’s BTCLT token and using some of that money on personal expenses—like renting a Beverly Hills mansion. But after reassessing the situation, the SEC decided to dismiss the case with prejudice, meaning it can’t be brought back. At the same time, the U.S. Department of Justice ended its own wire fraud case against him.
A court filing explained that the dismissal was specific to this case and doesn’t signal a broader policy change for other crypto matters.
Al-Naji, a former Google engineer and the creator of the DeSo blockchain, was first charged in 2024, just a few years after launching BitClout in March 2021. Regulators had claimed that he misrepresented the platform as fully decentralized, while allegedly controlling it behind the scenes, and that some investor funds were used for personal perks like rent and family gifts.
In a statement on X, Al-Naji expressed relief. He wrote that the government’s claims, especially that BitClout/DeSo wasn’t fully decentralized, had been the hardest to hear. But now, free from legal constraints and with his reputation restored, he said he’s ready to focus on his projects—including DeSo, Focus, Openfund, and HeroSwap—which he believes each have billion-dollar potential.
This move follows a broader trend at the SEC under President Trump, where the agency has been scaling back enforcement actions against crypto companies and signaling a shift toward clearer rules and collaboration instead of strict regulatory crackdowns. Earlier this month, the SEC also dropped its lawsuit against Justin Sun, founder of TRON, in a similar case.
