Uniswap Founder Calls Out Fake Unicoin Advertising in New York

Hayden Adams, the founder of the largest decentralized crypto exchange Uniswap, has called out a cryptocurrency project that is likely a scam and criticized U.S. authorities for not investigating the company.

In a tweet, Adams highlighted an image of a New York taxi carrying a banner with the name Unicoin written alongside a logo that appears to be an inverted version of the official Uniswap symbol.

Information on Unicoin’s website claims the asset is the official cryptocurrency of a project called Unicorn Hunters. The project aims to democratize access to wealth by connecting entrepreneurs with investors and giving users an opportunity to invest in companies in their pre-initial public offering stage.

Adams Calls Out Fake Unicoin Ad

Adams said Unicoin’s logo and prefix would make users confuse the project with another with a similar name. Notably, the ticker symbol of Uniswap’s native asset, UNI, is similar to that of Unicoin, which is UNIC.

The Uniswap founder noted that Unicoin has received celebrity endorsements and had advertisements everywhere, including on all taxis in New York. In addition, the token’s website promises high returns, which is generally seen as a cause for concern.

“I would bet any amount of money they’re not being investigated by the SEC,” Adams said, revealing in a separate tweet that the project is even registered with the U.S. securities regulator.

Interestingly, major crypto price tracking websites like CoinMarketCap and CoinGecko do not provide substantial information about Unicoin. The Unicoin page on CoinMarketCap shows that UNIC has zero circulating tokens but a total supply of more than three million. There is no information about the token’s trading volume or price on CoinMarketcap, and CoinGecko has no page for information about the project.

Crypto Community Reacts

Adams’ tweet received several reactions from members of the crypto community, with the majority criticizing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for investigating and fighting legitimate crypto businesses while leaving fishy ones like Unicoin unattended.

Pseudonymous crypto investor and web3 developer Nadina Oates said the SEC has failed to protect crypto investors from scams and loss of funds but succeeded in causing market crashes through its lawsuits against legitimate firms. 

“They don’t serve anyone but a few individuals behind the scenes enriching themselves,” Oates added.

The reactions come as several crypto entities, including Uniswap and Robinhood, face scrutiny from the SEC over alleged violations of securities laws.