| Unikrn Inc. | |
| Type: | Corporation |
| Foundation: | 2014 |
| Founder: | Rahul Sood, Karl Flores |
| Location City: | Miami |
| Location Country: | United States |
| Area Served: | Worldwide |
| Industry: | Online gambling |
| Services: | Online Esports betting & gaming |
| Website: | unikrn.com |
Unikrn Inc. (styled as "Unikrn") is an esports betting and entertainment media company based in Miami, Florida.
In August 2021, international betting, gambling and interactive entertainment company Entain acquired Unikrn.[1] [2]
Founded in November 2014, Unikrn primarily offers real money[3] [4] and token-based wagering on competitive video game tournaments, otherwise known as esports.[5] Unikrn creates betting markets on esports (organized video game competitions) matches akin to traditional betting.[6]
The company was founded by Rahul Sood and Karl Flores in November 2014.
In 2016, Unikrn became an investor in BIG (Berlin International Gaming),[7] a professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team. Unikrn also has an investment in MAINGEAR,[8] a high-end PC manufacturer.
In the second quarter of 2017, Unikrn acquired LEET,[9] an esports startup based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Unikrn also owns an Indian-based esports company, DotaProHub.[10]
In November 2017, the company released UnikoinGold, an ERC-20 cryptocurrency, running on the Ethereum blockchain.[11] [12] [13]
In September 2020, Unikrn agreed to a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after raising $31 million via a digital asset called UnikoinGold in an unregistered 2019 token sale of digital.[14] Unikrn volunteered to settle without a determination of guilt by paying a $6.1 million penalty to be paid via a Fair Fund to its token holders. Unikrn also undertook to disable UnikoinGold [15] Unikrn settled despite lack of consensus within the SEC that Unikoingold constituted a security, with Commissioner Hester M. Peirce saying, "I do not concur in my colleagues’ opinion that Unikrn’s token offering constituted a securities offering[...] By failing to challenge ourselves to experiment with new approaches to regulation, we, and those whose interests we are pledged to serve, risk surrendering the fruits of innovation. I respectfully dissent from the Commission’s actions today relating to Unikrn."[16] She further clarified, "[Unikrn] is not alleged to have engaged in any fraud."
