CoinDesk 2025-06-23 11:45:00

Unicoin to Buy Majority Stake in Diamond Lake, Will Launch Altcoin Treasury Strategy

Crypto firm Unicoin has agreed to buy a 51% stake in Diamond Lake Minerals, a firm specializing in digital assets, setting the stage for a strategic rebrand and a shift into altcoin treasury. The deal, which was announced on Monday, will see Diamond Lake Minerals renamed to DiamondLake and refocussed on building a cryptocurrency treasury business. That effort is inspired by Strategy’s bitcoin BTC-heavy corporate treasury strategy but swaps BTC for emerging altcoins. Shares of Diamond Lake Minerals’ were last trading at $3.96, suggesting the deal could be worth above $70 million. The acquisition is expected to close within 20 days, pending standard conditions. Unicoin CEO Alex Konanykhin framed the move as a bet on the future of cryptocurrencies. He cited legislative shifts like the recent passage of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act through the country’s Senate as catalysts that could unlock altcoin potential. "We believe the same results achieved with Bitcoin can be replicated at a fraction of the cost in the alt-coin segment,” Konanykhin said. DiamondLake’s CEO Brian J. Esposito called the deal “historic,” emphasizing the company’s long-standing ambition to bring tokenization into the core of public market investment strategies. The new company will focus on tokenizing real-world assets and making them accessible to everyday investors. The acquisition comes roughly a month after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Unicorn and three of its executives, including Konanykhin, for allegedly raising over $100 million in a “massive securities fraud.” The agency claims Unicoin misled investors by inflating real estate valuations and promoting outsized, unrealistic returns, such as a 9 million percent gain, through aggressive marketing campaigns. The SEC is seeking disgorgement and civil penalties. Konanykhin has dismissed the charges as “blatantly false,” and suggested the SEC is still going after crypto firms, even after the regulator dropped cases against firms including Coinbase, Kraken, and Uniswap. He rejected a proposed settlement meeting in April, calling the SEC’s terms “unacceptable.” In a letter to shareholders, he argued that Unicoin had complied with U.S. regulations and accused the regulator of inflicting “multi-billion-dollar damages” through its probe.