Nova Labs' legal chief said the CLARITY Act could stop crypto regulation from reversing whenever US political leadership changes.
• The SEC dismissed its digital asset claims against Nova Labs with prejudice in April 2025, three months after suing the company over HNT distributions.
• CLARITY could classify programmatically distributed tokens such as HNT as digital commodities rather than securities.
The CLARITY Act could replace politically driven crypto enforcement with durable rules determining when network tokens qualify as commodities rather than securities, according to Sarah Aberg, chief legal officer at Nova Labs, the company behind the Helium Network.
Nova Labs experienced that regulatory uncertainty firsthand. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued the company on January 17, 2025, alleging that its sales of wireless hardware distributing HNT rewards constituted an unregistered securities offering.
The regulator also targeted Helium Mobile's Discovery Mapping feature, through which subscribers could earn digital assets for sharing network coverage data. However, on April 24, 2025, the SEC dismissed every digital asset claim with prejudice.
A separate claim alleging negligent misrepresentations during a preferred stock placement was resolved through a consent judgment and $200,000 civil penalty, without Nova Labs admitting or denying the allegation.
Aberg said the CLARITY Act would have prevented the SEC from pursuing the digital asset theory underpinning its case.
Proposed Section 4B of the Securities Act, introduced by Section 102 of CLARITY, creates a presumption that certain gratuitous network-token distributions are not securities transactions. To qualify, distributions must be broad, equitable and non-discretionary, including those generated programmatically through network activity.
Helium's HNT rewards fit that description, Aberg argued. The protocol automatically compensates hotspot operators for providing verified wireless coverage, transferring carrier data and contributing mapping information.
The Helium Network has operated since 2021, while Nova Labs has never held a controlling share of HNT's supply. According to Aberg, the token derives its value from measurable wireless services rather than a capital-raising transaction.