U.S. SEC Accuses Unicoin of Misleading Marketing and Inflated Asset Claims
The SEC has charged Unicoin with misleading investors. The project claimed its tokens were backed by real estate and pre-IPO stocks, while the actual asset backing was significantly lower than publicly stated.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a lawsuit against crypto project Unicoin and three of its executives in the Southern District of New York. According to the complaint, the company misled investors by selling so-called “rights certificates,” falsely claiming that real-world assets would back the underlying tokens and shares. However, the actual asset valuation was much lower than advertised.
According to the SEC, Unicoin promoted its offering through widespread advertising in major airports, thousands of New York City taxis, television broadcasts, and social media, ultimately convincing over 5,000 investors to purchase certificates. While the company publicly claimed more than $3 billion in sales, the SEC said it raised only around $110 million.
Related: The Top Cryptocurrency Scams to Watch Out for in 2025
Details of the Charges
In a complaint filed on May 20, 2025, the SEC accused Unicoin and its executives of violating federal anti-fraud securities laws. The regulator further alleges that the company falsely stated its tokens and certificates were registered with the SEC, although no such registrations existed.
According to SEC analysts, Unicoin claimed to have acquired real estate in Argentina, Thailand, Antigua, and the Bahamas with a reported valuation of over $1.4 billion. However, most of these deals were allegedly incomplete, and the actual value of the properties did not exceed $300 million.
“But as we allege, the real estate assets were worth a mere fraction of what the company claimed, and the majority of the company’s sales of rights certificates were illusory,”
said Mark Cave, Associate Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.
Named in the complaint:
- CEO and Chairman Alex Konanykhin
- Former President and Board Chair Silvina Moschini
- Former CIO Alex Dominguez
Additionally, the SEC brought separate charges against General Counsel Richard Devlin, who agreed to a permanent industry bar and a $37,500 civil penalty, without admitting or denying allegations.
Related: Celsius Founder Alex Mashinsky Gets 12-Year Prison Sentence
Marketing Campaign and Asset Misrepresentation
Unicoin launched an aggressive promotional campaign to attract investors, featuring airport billboards, branded taxi wraps, elevator screens in office buildings, and widespread digital and television advertising. In its marketing materials, the company promised potential returns of up to 9,000,000% (!) for early buyers of its certificates.
According to the SEC, such campaigns played a key role in convincing over 5,000 investors to purchase Unicoin certificates, despite the company’s lack of verified liquidity and false claims of SEC registration.
Currently, the case remains in the preliminary hearing phase. The SEC seeks disgorgement of funds, civil penalties, and officer-and-director bars.
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