Today in crypto, the SEC filed a $100 million fraud suit against Unicoin and its executives, Javier Milei shut down a task force investigating the fallout from LIBRA, and Germany’s summer 2024 Bitcoin sale looks like a $2.3 billion blunder.
SEC sues Unicoin, executives alleging $100 million fraud
The US Securities and Exchange Commission sued Unicoin and three of the crypto platform’s executives on May 20, alleging they made false and misleading statements about crypto assets that raised $100 million from investors.
The SEC charged Unicoin CEO Alex Konanykhin, board member Silvina Moschini, and former investment chief Alex Dominguez with misleading investors about certificates that conveyed rights to receive Unicoin tokens and stock.
SEC Division of Enforcement associate director Mark Cave claimed that the trio “exploited thousands of investors with fictitious promises that its tokens, when issued, would be backed by real-world assets including an international portfolio of valuable real estate holdings.”
The SEC also charged Unicoin’s general counsel, Richard Devlin, with violating federal securities laws. Devlin paid a $37,500 civil penalty without admitting or denying the agency’s claim.
Argentina's Milei shuts down task force investigating LIBRA scandal
Argentine President Javier Milei has dissolved a task force established to investigate the fallout from LIBRA, the scandalous cryptocurrency project the head of state promoted on his social media channel before it crashed to zero.
The Investigative Task Force (ITU) was dissolved via a May 19 decree signed by Milei and Justice Minister Mariano Cúneo Libarona, government documents revealed.
“The Research Task Unit is dissolved” after completing its mandate, the translated version of the decree read.
The task force is being dissolved despite pressure from opposition groups, which are seeking to activate an investigative commission as soon as May 20, local media outlet Clarin reported.
Government officials established the UTI on Feb. 19, days after Milei promoted LIBRA on his official X account.
His endorsement briefly sent LIBRA soaring from practically worthless to $5 a token and a nearly $5 billion market capitalization, before quickly crashing to zero in what appeared to be a classic pump-and-dump scheme.
The fallout from LIBRA sparked allegations of insider trading and manipulation, with Milei caught in the crosshairs.
German government missed out on $2.3 billion profit after selling Bitcoin at $57,000
The German government missed out on more than $2 billion worth of Bitcoin profit after selling its holdings in 2024, according to blockchain intelligence firm Arkham.
A “German Government (BKA)” labeled cryptocurrency wallet sold 49,858 Bitcoin worth over $2.89 billion at an average price of $57,900 across multiple transactions during June and July in 2024.
The decision to sell the Bitcoin early cost the German government over $2.35 billion, according to crypto intelligence platform Arkham.
“If they had held it, their BTC would now be worth $5.24B,” Arkham said in a May 19 X post, noting that Bitcoin has risen more than 80% since the sale.
At the time of publication, Bitcoin was trading at more than $104,700, according to CoinMarketCap data.
The German government-labeled wallet first raised speculation of a potential sell-off on June 19, 2024, when it executed a 6,500 BTC transfer worth over $425 million.
The wallet originally held around 50,000 BTC, believed to have been seized from the operators of Movie2k, a now-defunct pirated film site.
