Latest news with #Unicoin
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Unicoin to Buy Majority Stake in Diamond Lake, Will Launch Altcoin Treasury Strategy
Crypto firm Unicoin has agreed to buy a 51% stake in Diamond Lake Minerals, a firm specializing in digital assets, setting the stage for a strategic rebrand and a shift into altcoin treasury. The deal, which was announced on Monday, will see Diamond Lake Minerals renamed to DiamondLake and refocussed on building a cryptocurrency treasury business. That effort is inspired by Strategy's bitcoin BTC-heavy corporate treasury strategy but swaps BTC for emerging altcoins. Shares of Diamond Lake Minerals' were last trading at $3.96, suggesting the deal could be worth above $70 million. The acquisition is expected to close within 20 days, pending standard conditions. Unicoin CEO Alex Konanykhin framed the move as a bet on the future of cryptocurrencies. He cited legislative shifts like the recent passage of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act through the country's Senate as catalysts that could unlock altcoin potential. "We believe the same results achieved with Bitcoin can be replicated at a fraction of the cost in the alt-coin segment,' Konanykhin said. DiamondLake's CEO Brian J. Esposito called the deal 'historic,' emphasizing the company's long-standing ambition to bring tokenization into the core of public market investment strategies. The new company will focus on tokenizing real-world assets and making them accessible to everyday investors. The acquisition comes roughly a month after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Unicorn and three of its executives, including Konanykhin, for allegedly raising over $100 million in a 'massive securities fraud.' The agency claims Unicoin misled investors by inflating real estate valuations and promoting outsized, unrealistic returns, such as a 9 million percent gain, through aggressive marketing campaigns. The SEC is seeking disgorgement and civil penalties. Konanykhin has dismissed the charges as 'blatantly false,' and suggested the SEC is still going after crypto firms, even after the regulator dropped cases against firms including Coinbase, Kraken, and Uniswap. He rejected a proposed settlement meeting in April, calling the SEC's terms 'unacceptable.' In a letter to shareholders, he argued that Unicoin had complied with U.S. regulations and accused the regulator of inflicting 'multi-billion-dollar damages' through its probe. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Coin Geek
22-05-2025
- Business
- Coin Geek
SEC charges Unicoin in $110 million fraud
Homepage > News > Finance > SEC charges Unicoin in $110 million fraud Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... On Tuesday, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged New York City-based digital asset firm Unicoin and three of its top executives with defrauding 5,000 investors in a $110 million scam. In its complaint, filed with U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the SEC alleged that Unicoin, Inc., its CEO and Board Chairman Alex Konanykhin, former President and current Board Member Silvina Moschini, and former Chief Investment Officer Alex Dominguez violated the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws. According to the regulator, the defendants made 'false and misleading statements in an offering of certificates that purportedly conveyed rights to receive crypto assets called Unicoin tokens and an offering of Unicoin, Inc.'s common stock.' Konanykhin and Unicoin were also charged with violating the registration provisions of the Securities Act, and Konanykhin as a control person for certain of Unicoin's antifraud violations. Unicoin was founded in 2022 as an asset-backed token tied to equity in emerging growth companies. It was promoted as a regulated, transparent alternative to volatile digital assets, with the company claiming to stand out as 'a next-generation company uniquely aligned with U.S. standards, backed by real estate and equity stakes in high-growth potential companies.' Amongst other things, Unicoin and its executives are alleged to have convinced more than 5,000 investors to purchase rights certificates through false and misleading statements—including across advertisements in major airports, on thousands of New York City taxis, and television and social media—that portrayed them as investments in safe, stable, and profitable 'next generation' digital assets. The false claims included that the Unicoin tokens underlying the rights certificates were 'asset-backed' by billions of dollars of real estate and equity interests in pre-IPO companies, when in fact Unicoin's assets were never worth more than a small fraction of that amount, according to the SEC. Other false claims highlighted by the regulator were that the company had sold more than $3 billion in rights certificates, when it raised no more than $110 million, and that the rights certificates and Unicoin tokens were 'SEC-registered' or 'U.S. registered' when they were not. '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,' said Mark Cave, Associate Director in the SEC's Division of Enforcement. '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.' 'Unicoin's most senior executives are alleged to have perpetuated the fraud, and today's action seeks accountability for their conduct,' Cave added. According to the SEC complaint, Unicoin and Konanykhin also violated the federal securities laws by engaging in unregistered offers and sales of rights certificates. Konanykhin allegedly offered and sold over 37.9 million of his rights certificates, 'to offer better pricing and target investors the company had prohibited from participating in the offering to avoid jeopardizing its exemption to registration requirements.' The regulator seeks 'permanent injunctive relief, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains with prejudgment interest, and civil penalties' against Unicoin, Konanykhin, Moschini, and Dominguez, as well as an order preventing Konanykhin, Moschini, and Dominguez from serving as officers or directors of public companies in the future. The SEC also charged Unicoin's general counsel, Richard Devlin, with violating the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws by negligently making similar misstatements in private placement memoranda that Unicoin used to offer and sell rights certificates and Unicoin stock. However, Devlin settled and consented to a final judgment providing permanent injunctive relief and a civil penalty of $37,500 without admitting or denying the SEC's allegations. Watch: Breaking down solutions to blockchain regulation hurdles title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen="">
CNBC
21-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Bitcoin falls after hitting new record high of $109,500: CNBC Crypto World
On today's episode of CNBC Crypto World, Bitcoin sets a new record price. Plus, the SEC files charges against the crypto firm Unicoin and its top executives for alleged fraud. And, Eric Chen, co-founder of Injective, reacts to bitcoin's new record and provides his outlook for the cryptocurrency.
Wall Street Journal
21-05-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
SEC Sues Crypto Startup Unicoin and Its Executives for Fraud
The Securities and Exchange Commission sued Unicoin, a flashy crypto startup, alleging that the company and its executives misled investors while raising more than $100 million to launch a digital token that it touted as safe, stable and backed by real-world assets such as land in Antigua and the Bahamas. The lawsuit, filed late Tuesday, is one of the SEC's first major enforcement actions taken against a crypto firm since President Trump—a supporter of the digital-currency industry—took office. Representatives of Unicoin didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
Bloomberg
21-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Asset-Backed Crypto Token Wasn't
The oldest trick in the book is: Here is a bizarre and charming US Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement action against Unicoin Inc. and three of its executives (Alex Konanykhin, Silvina Moschini and Alex Dominguez) for all sorts of fun stuff. Unicoin is, approximately, a crypto company that wanted to sell tokens that were going to be (as the SEC complaint puts it) 'asset-backed by billions of dollars in real estate and equity interests in promising pre-IPO companies.' There are various legal complexities that you have to deal with if you want to do that, including:
