U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Accused Cryptocurrency Startup Unicoin and Its Top Executives of Orchestrating a Massive Fraud Scheme

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused cryptocurrency startup Unicoin and its top executives of orchestrating a massive fraud scheme.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accused cryptocurrency startup Unicoin and its top executives of orchestrating a massive fraud scheme.

The SEC alleges that they raised more than $100 million from thousands of investors using false promises about asset-backed tokens and inflated fundraising numbers.

However, the assets backing these promises were valued at just a fraction of what Unicoin advertised.

The SEC’s 77-page complaint, filed May 20 in the Southern District of New York, focuses on a scheme allegedly masterminded by CEO Alex Konanykhin and senior executives Silvina Moschini and Alex Dominguez.

The complaint claims that Unicoin misled over 5,000 investors by marketing “rights certificates” as safe, asset-backed investments.

The majority of the company’s sales of rights certificates were illusory, according to Mark Cave, Associate Director at SEC Enforcement.

Unicoin is accused of boasting $3 billion in sales while actually raising no more than $110 million, and its tokens, portrayed as fully SEC-registered, were never formally registered.

Konanykhin personally sold nearly 38 million rights certificates, targeting investors otherwise barred by company rules, and these actions allegedly flout federal securities laws.

Unicoin ran splashy advertisements on thousands of New York City taxis, airport screens, televisions, and social media platforms, promoting its tokens as secure investments tied to substantial real-world assets.

The SEC cites these widespread marketing campaigns as evidence of deceptive intent. Unicoin launched alongside a Shark Tank-style TV show, Unicorn Hunters, featuring Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and political advisor Moe Vela, who spoke to CryptoSlate at the time.

Konanykhin responded defiantly, arguing the SEC’s intervention derailed the company’s growth trajectory.

“We would likely be a $10B+ publicly traded company by now if the SEC had not blocked our ICO,” Konanykhin said.

He described the charges as a politically motivated move orchestrated by “rogue officials” left over from former SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s administration.

This case emerges as a pivotal test of the SEC’s enforcement appetite under Chair Paul Atkins, widely viewed as adopting a softer stance on cryptocurrency.

However, the Unicoin charges suggest that significant retail fraud, particularly involving exaggerated asset claims, remains squarely within the regulator’s sights.

Unicoin’s general counsel, Richard Devlin, has already settled with the SEC, agreeing to a permanent injunction and paying a $37,500 penalty.

This settlement hints at possible fractures within Unicoin’s defense strategy as the early stages of litigation could see Unicoin attempt to countersue or request venue changes.

The outcome of this case raises questions over the future regulatory treatment of asset-backed tokens and influences ongoing congressional discussions about potential crypto carve-outs.