Visionary Alex Konanykhin, Silvina Moschini, and CFO Andrew Winn hosted their highly anticipated Annual 2023 Unicoin Shareholders Meeting on February 24th in sunny Miami Beach, Florida.
Investors bought more than $375 million worth of Unicoins during its initial year of public release, making it potentially the most successful cryptocurrency launch to date.
Read on for an overview of how Unicoin plans to revolutionize the world of finance.
During the session, they discussed:
The results of 2022.
Their strategy for increasing the value of Unicoins and shares.
Timing of listing of Unicoin on crypto exchanges
Timing of going public.
Unicoin Background Overview
Prior to the pandemic, the company's focus was software as a service (SaaS) in the category of remote workforce management. But pandemic disruption made this problematic, as big tech commanded market share, leaving little room for smaller players. Not ones to give up, the team saw an opportunity to pivot and began building an extensive portfolio of equity stakes in emerging growth companies. This became possible through fundraising and close collaboration with the SEC.
With its extensive business knowledge and resulting database, the Unicoin team helps other innovative companies and presents opportunities to investors in return for equity stakes in these companies as a fee. This allows them to develop a large portfolio of equity stakes in a variety of companies, distributing risk by ensuring future success is not dependent on the fate of a single industry or technology.
It's this thinking that led to Konanykhin starting the "Unicorn Hunter" show. Just one year later, Forbes magazine characterized it as the most iconic business series of recent times.
Unfortunately, IPO funding in the United States plummeted by over 90% in 2022. So, in order to generate additional shareholder value, the company launched its cryptocurrency Unicoin.
This was a great way to capitalize on the reach and credibility of its "Unicorn Hunter" show while building a brand with staying power. But it wasn't just a branding competition. The company wanted Unicoin to be built for profitability and to address the most acute problem of peer-to-peer transactions - extreme volatility.
That's why they deployed Unicoin as an asset-backed, dividend-paying cryptocurrency via a revenue-generating business model with transparent public reporting.
The team believes cryptocurrency can grow by over 3000% in its next rally and sees this as a good reason to own an asset in this fast-growing space.
When Will Unicoin List on Crypto Exchanges?
Unicoin holders, like any shareholders, want their investments to be liquid and valuable. The company recognizes that and has postponed its IPO for this reason. It doesn’t think the current environment offers a lucrative time to go public and is waiting for a more favorable environment.
If we succeed in making it a major crypto brand, it is going to be valued at many billions of dollars.
- Alex Konanykhin, Unicoin Founder.
The company hopes to list Unicoin on cryptocurrency exchanges later this year, but its timing ultimately depends on general sentiment in the crypto market. The team is looking out for strong and continued growth in around a dozen cryptocurrencies, as this will signal resumed interest in mass investment. It hopes that it can consider listing after Labor Day because July/August tend to be slow months in the financial markets.
In any case, there is strong optimism among the Unicoin team that we are in the early stages of a major upswing and that this year Unicoin will be listed on various crypto exchanges.
When Will Unicoin IPO?
During the shareholder meeting, Konanykhin addressed the possibility that an IPO may not happen until next year.
He reminded shareholders that the company issued its dividend last year specifically to ensure shareholders would not be disadvantaged in the event of these disruptive market conditions.
This dividend equates to one Unicoin for five times the value. This was an optional approach, allowing investors to hold onto their shares or exchange them for five times the value in Unicoins in return for accelerated liquidity.
Choosing the optimal timing for listing Unicoin could have significant consequences, which is why Konanykhin is keen to wait:
"Our task is to find the best timing for listing unicoins. And this timing will depend on the investors’ sentiment towards crypto which is known to oscillate between exuberance and panic. I believe that it’s heading toward the exuberance phase, but the exact timing depends on many factors."
When Will Unicorn Hunters TV Show Return?
The company plans to begin the Second Season of Unicorn Hunters when public interest in pre-IPO investment opportunities returns. According to a PwC report, this interest is cyclical and dropped sharply in 2022 due to factors such as inflation, slowing global growth, and the war in Ukraine, which led to a sell-off in equity markets.
As a result, global IPO issuance reached a five-year low in Q2 2022, and IPO market sentiment remained fragile, with significantly lower volumes compared to the previous year.
Although Unicorn Hunters is a valuable tool for value creation, the company recognizes the need to use it when investors are actively seeking the best pre-IPO deals. The market can recover quickly, as seen in the case of cryptocurrency, which was referred to as "the crypto winter" in the last two quarters of 2022 but has since become the hottest category of assets.
Focus on Major Branding Initiative
The team behind Unicoin is creating a program that takes the best of the traditional financial system with the best of the future and blockchain technology. It is tapping into the efficiencies that you get when you take a one-to-many approach rather than one-to-one.
Therefore, it is partnering up with multiple entities that have audiences with similar objectives to maximize. This begins with media alliances, such as in-flight entertainment, event organizers, influencers, and ambassadors. This creates a massive opportunity to scale.
A key company objective is to raise $1.2bn to spend on brand recognition. The team strongly believes this will add much more value to the firm and the value of Unicoins going forward. Thus, increasing shareholder value and the price per coin.
As is typical with an early-stage growth company, cash is declining year over year as the company spends the money it raises to help grow the brand.
However, this is exactly how businesses grow, and the company believes its strong approach to deal-making and building media partnerships gives it a significant competitive advantage over competitors in the crypto space. Most decentralized cryptocurrencies lack marketing budgets to grow the business in the way Unicoin is doing.
Indeed, the team believes a $1.2bn share raise will be far more effective in creating an unstoppable brand valued at a much higher level than it would cost to create this brand from scratch.
Competitive Advantage
The team has partnered with leading event organizers around the world, paying everything in cash and Unicoins, which proves it can be used for transactions because cryptocurrencies need to have two functions: one is the storage of value, and the other one is a transactional capability.
Another reason the team believes it holds a competitive advantage is in its range of financial offerings.
In September, it introduced a "five for one" offer or "buy now pay later" offer. This allows property owners to use assets such as real estate, land, and equity to get five times the value in Unicoins, using the proceeds as collateral. This approach created deals where property owners would, for example, quote a million-dollar property to secure a $5 million purchase of Unicoins, which proved advantageous for the buyer, as they could do it without using cash.
This deal is very convenient for investors and great for the company as it ensures collateral is secured. Indeed, it sits at over $560m as of the shareholder meeting.
Furthermore, as the Unicoins must be created digitally, the company must employ a service to do this for them. They are currently considering two major players, INX and Securitize Inc.
These companies should be capable of providing the full suite of services that Unicoin needs for the technical tokenization of the coins. INX appears to be the favored option for now, but they are still in the decision-making phase.
Preparing to Scale
Unicoin is only celebrating its first anniversary but trusts it is going to scale. With the power of influence in its growing legion of ambassadors and the leverage they hold, it feels great confidence that it can build and scale this brand and company to profitable heights.
The company is making deals in Brazil and Argentina, joining forces with NBC Universal, and partnering with various NFL players, including the famous rookie player of the year, Ezekiel Elliott. It also signed three-time Formula One crowned champion Juan Pablo Montoya as an ambassador.
Silvina is also looking to launch a Unicoin for women built on the concept of community, bringing together organizations that bring together women at this scale, creating a revenue stream for all stakeholders while bringing a host of benefits to investors. This is being structured in a way to stake coins in rewards and NFT collectibles.
This initiative is targeted at women and is about lessons on leadership, power, money, and things that are important for women, like fashion, style, and sorority. The educating process will also provide the company with an opportunity to cultivate leads.
Other strategic initiatives for 2023 include continuing to sign partners in various sectors and media events. And, of course, the Unicorn Hunter show will also continue to perform as a promotional vehicle.
The company recently ended its 10-year Option deal, offering Unicoins at 20¢/ú. The reason being the deal looked "too good to be true" in the ongoing crypto rally.
For those interested in investing in Unicoin, its price will increase to 50¢/ú on March 1st.
Cryptocurrencies offer a way to diversify your portfolio.
The question you may ask is; is Unicoin a good investment?