SEC sues Unicoin and executives for violating securities laws

The SEC filed the suit on Tuesday night, alleging that some Unicoin executives made “false and misleading statements” and violated securities laws

article-image

Tada Images/Shutterstock and Adobe modified by Blockworks

share

This is a segment from the Empire newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.


Last night, the SEC announced it was suing Unicoin and its executives, alleging that the team violated securities laws in its $100 million token raise. Specifically, the SEC named CEO Alexander Konanykhin, general counsel Richard Devlin and former CIO Alejandro Dominguez, as well as former board chair Maria Moschini, in the suit.

In the 77-page lawsuit, the SEC says that Unicoin and its executives made “false and misleading statements and material omissions” on various public forums. 

The team, the SEC claimed, told investors that its token would be backed by real-world assets, but the defendants “never actually intended for Unicoin tokens to be backed by any assets.”

Konanykhin, in the documents, is accused of selling his Unicoin Rights Certificates “months after receiving them from the company,” for more than $2.6 million. 

In April, Unicoin said, in a letter to investors, that it rejected a settlement attempt by the SEC after being made aware of the regulatory agency’s probe. The letter claimed that the investigation has racked up “multi-billion dollar damages” to both investors and token holders.

Konanykhin told Decrypt in April that he plans to fight the allegations. There are still a lot of legal processes to go through, but so far it looks like Konanykhin might get his day in court.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research

article-image

With Galaxy set to report earnings tomorrow, Rittenhouse Research rated it a strong buy in a recent note

article-image

A new quantum experiment shows that observation changes reality — but investors knew that already

article-image

Solana apps and app tokens could be in for a ‘mass repricing’

article-image

Company looks to bring tokenized equities “to meet the moment in this new regulatory environment,” CEO Brian Armstrong said

article-image

Musings on securities laws, plus Paul Atkins unveiling “Project Crypto” at the SEC

article-image

A spooky story about the importance of self-custody