Michaela
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accused crypto firm Unicoin, Inc. and three senior executives of deceiving investors with false claims tied to certificates allegedly linked to future crypto asset payouts.
According to a press release from the Commission, Unicoin allegedly misled investors through the promotion of certificates that were said to grant rights to receive Unicoin tokens—a form of crypto asset—as well as through an offering of the company’s common stock.
“We allege that Unicoin and its executives exploited thousands of investors with fictitious promises that its tokens, when issued, would be backed by real-world assets including an international portfolio of valuable real estate holdings,” Mark Cave, Associate Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement stated.
Cave also asserted that the value of Unicoin’s real estate holdings was significantly overstated, with actual figures falling far short of the company’s claims. He added that most of the rights certificate sales were essentially fabricated.
According to the SEC, the firm’s top executives—Board Chairman Alex Konanykhin; Silvina Moschini, former president, former board chairwoman, and current board member; and former Chief Investment Officer Alex Dominguez—played a central role in orchestrating the alleged fraud. The agency’s latest move aims to hold them accountable.
The commission alleged that Unicoin aggressively pushed its rights certificates through high-visibility marketing campaigns, splashing ads across major airports, thousands of New York City taxis, television broadcasts, and social media platforms.
Additionally, Unicoin and its executives are accused of persuading more than 5,000 investors to buy rights certificates by making false and misleading claims that these were secure, stable, and profitable “next-generation” crypto assets.
Unicoin claimed that the tokens tied to the rights certificates were backed by billions of dollars in real estate and equity stakes in pre-IPO companies. However, the company’s actual assets were worth only a small fraction of that amount. Furthermore, while Unicoin sold over $3 billion in rights certificates, it raised less than $110 million. The company also misrepresented the rights certificates and tokens as being registered with the SEC or in the U.S., which was not true.
The SEC’s complaint further alleges that Unicoin and Konanykhin violated federal securities laws by offering and selling rights certificates without proper registration. The Unicoin board chairman is said to have personally sold more than 37.9 million rights certificates, allegedly to provide discounted pricing and reach investors who had been excluded from the main offering in an effort to protect the company’s claimed exemption from registration.
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Michaela has no crypto positions and does not hold any crypto assets. This article is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. The Shib Magazine and The Shib Daily are the official media and publications of the Shiba Inu cryptocurrency project. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial adviser before making any investment decisions.
