Unicoin will move to dismiss the SEC fraud case, the CEO says

Crypto company Unicoin is filing a motion today to dismiss the lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company said. Decryption.

The SEC sued Unicoin and three top executives in May, denounced investors who mislead them, raising more than $100 million through its crypto offerings and false claims about the company’s stock, and attempting to wrap themselves up in a veneer of regulation.

In future submissions, Unicoin argues that the case should be abandoned as complaints distort the record and ignore important disclosures. The company claims it has “accepted a strategy of transparency, compliance and responsible innovation from the start,” and publishes voluntarily registered securities, audited financial statements, highlighting its limited participation in accredited investors.

CEO Alex Konanykhin portrays the SEC lawsuit as a political theatre, denounces the “hitchman” of former SEC chairman Gary Gensler’s executive team.

“At the highest point of his war with the code, Gensler saw the Unicoin logo very prominent in Manhattan,” Konanikan said. Decryptionsee Advertising Campaigns by Unicoin. “Our NYSE listing means the humiliating defeat of his anti-cryptic crusade.”

He said Gensler ordered his enforcers to eliminate it. In May 2024, the SEC sent investors, brokers, lawyers, auditors, bankers and vendors to investors, brokers, lawyers, auditors and vendors that they were “deliberately disrupting” the “breakdown,” he added.

“Like during previous investigations, SEC investigators did not find any violations in our work,” said Unicoin CEO, who mentioned two other conflicts that the company had with the SEC. “We didn’t cut corners, so we adhered to all the rules and had top-level securities lawyers, compliance consultants and auditors. So they roughly manufactured false accusations.”

In their allegations, regulators say Unicoin exaggerated the value of real estate acquisitions in the Bahamas, which were supposed to back up Argentina, Antigua, Thailand and the tokens, and in some cases announced transactions that have not yet been closed.

Unicoin’s claim to reject it pushes it back, fusing its contractual commitment with a completed transfer of the title, claiming that all transactions are supported by binding contracts. “The SEC will blend the transaction value with property value,” the company said, adding that it measured purchases at the value of Unicoin tokens exchanged for land.

For example, in 2023, the company said it had signed a contract worth $335 million to buy a luxury resort in Thailand. The press release added that Unicoin will pay 140% of the facility’s valuation.

Konanykhin said Decryption The Unicoin was unable to acquire ownership of these properties as it intended to transfer funds following the provision of the initial coins that was delayed due to SEC measures.

The agency also claims that Unicoin misrepresented the company’s financial position while advertising and selling so-called “Unicoin Rights Certificates” and that Konanykhin himself improperly sold nearly 38 million investors to banned participants.

The company argued that its marketing material always combines optimism with explicit warnings about risk, and that the SEC is a cherry picking snippet to portray fraudulent predictions as fraudulent misstatements. “The SEC treats everyday financial forecasts and optimism as fraud, while its Unicoin has linked all its ambitious claims with a calm warning,” the motion states.

Konanykhin said he had not sold the certificate to unrecognized investors but asked about the possibility at about the same time, saying he assumed the SEC did. He vows to fight the lawsuit, claiming that the SEC’s actions have lost billions of dollars worth of 8,000 investors and thwarted Unicoin’s success.

“We are confident that if it was published a year ago, the stock market will give us a healthy premium,” he said, adding that he estimated it was worth the company’s $25 billion. “Instead, we are literally forced to fight for our survival.”

There is no guarantee for Unicoin

Legal experts suggest that the company is facing a tough road.

Catherine Riley, a former federal prosecutor and partner in the white-collar and regulatory enforcement group for Prior Cashman, is Decryption The SEC complaint reflects traditional securities fraud cases more than some of the other crypto cases that have declined over the past few months.

“It says a lot about the truly traditional misrepresentation that Unicoin executives are allegedly made,” she said. “For example, the SEC claims that executives are exaggerating funding and runways, and that their coins are supported by real estate and assets that have not passed.”

The Trump-era SEC has been pulled back from many recent incidents against major crypto players, but Riley said this might be different. “I think this is a strong example of the type of enforcement action the SEC is still pursuing. Unicoin clearly has an effort to focus on the new administration’s alliance with the crypto industry and American entrepreneurship,” she said.

“But I don’t think that means a lot in front of judges in the Southern District of New York.”

Decryption We reached it but did not receive a response from the SEC immediately.