The U.S. SEC recently issued a Wells notice to crypto investment company Unicoin, planning to formally accuse it of violations related to fraud, deceptive practices, and the issuance and sale of unregistered securities. The letter did not specify what violations existed.
Unicoin CEO Alex Konanykhin revealed that the SEC's cryptocurrency enforcement division issued subpoenas to his company and others in May. These subpoenas involve Unicoin's main product, the cryptocurrency backed by RWA, which includes billions of dollars worth of real estate assets.
While Konanykhin said Unicoin's lawyers are preparing a response that will be completed on December 24, he expressed the general sentiment throughout the cryptocurrency industry that Gensler's enforcement action is widely believed to be politically motivated. He said: "I can only say one word: nonsense. It's complete nonsense."
However, it is worth noting that the SEC has filed fraud-related violations against Unicoin, which have not appeared in other recent lawsuits against well-known cryptocurrency companies such as Coinbase. Konanykhin said the SEC's move was an attempt to stop its planned ICO.
The company has allegedly sold about $3.5 billion in tokens, has about 70,000 investors, and its tokens are backed by physical assets such as 8,000 acres of land in the Bahamas. (Fortune)