SEC Sues Unicoin Inc. Accusing It of Defrauding Investors Out of More Than $100 Million

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a lawsuit against cryptocurrency firm Unicoin Inc. and several of its top executives, accusing them of defrauding investors out of more than $100 million through misleading and unregistered securities offerings.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has sued cryptocurrency firm Unicoin Inc. and several of its executives for allegedly defrauding investors out of over $100 million with misleading and unregistered securities offerings.

According to a complaint filed on May 20 in the Southern District of New York, the SEC accuses Unicoin and its leadership—CEO Alex Konanykhin, board member Maria Silvina Moschini, and former chief investment officer Alex Dominguez—of making false claims while promoting “rights certificates” that would provide claims to a future token, Unicoin.

The company marketed these certificates as asset-backed instruments, supposedly tied to a multi-billion-dollar real estate and pre-IPO equity portfolio. However, the SEC claims these assets were only worth a small fraction of what was advertised.

Of the real estate deals highlighted in Unicoin’s promotional materials, spanning Argentina, Thailand, and the Caribbean, many never closed, and their combined value was estimated at no more than $300 million.

The SEC also counters Unicoin’s assertions that it had already sold over $3 billion worth of certificates to investors. The agency alleges that actual sales amounted to roughly $110 million, gathered from over 5,000 investors globally.

Furthermore, Unicoin reportedly touted its offerings as SEC-compliant or “U.S. registered,” even though the certificates were never officially registered and did not qualify for any exemption from registration under federal securities law.

Unicoin is accused of distributing tokens via airdrops without verifying investor accreditation, which the SEC says is another violation. CEO Konanykhin is said to have sold nearly 38 million certificates to investors who had previously been excluded to preserve the company’s legal standing.

Unicoin’s general counsel, Richard Devlin, was also charged for his role in the scheme but has already settled with the SEC. Without admitting wrongdoing, he agreed to pay a $37,500 fine and accepted a permanent injunction.

The SEC is seeking civil penalties, disgorgement of funds, and executive bans against the remaining defendants.

In response to the lawsuit, Konanykhin has denied the charges and plans to challenge them in court. He claims the SEC’s actions damaged the company and blocked critical fundraising opportunities.

Despite a massive shift toward more crypto-friendly policies under the Trump administration, the SEC continues to pursue enforcement in cases it feels involve clear fraud.