Latest news with #Tronix
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Crypto billionaire Justin Sun says he received a $100K Trump-branded watch at the president's meme coin dinner
President Donald Trump feted the top holders of his $Trump token on Thursday night. Justin Sun, the top holder of the coin, said he was presented with a $100,000 Trump-branded watch. A billionaire, Sun has run into legal troubles related to his other holdings. The crypto billionaire Justin Sun said he received a $100,000 Trump-branded watch at President Donald Trump's meme coin dinner on Thursday, held at the Trump National Golf Club outside Washington, DC. The top 220 holders of the token were invited to the event. In photos and videos of the event, Sun posed with other attendees and signed a printout of a leaderboard showing he was No. 1 among the top 220 Trump coin holders. Sun said he was gifted a Trump Tourbillon watch, which retails for $100,000. The top 25 holders were treated to a more intimate reception with Trump. "I really appreciate, like, everything the Trump administration has done to our industry," Sun said in a video that he reposted on X. "As the president said right before, so like, basically, like, 100 days ago, like, they go after crypto people like everywhere. That's impossible for us to have such beautiful events in DC." In a separate post, Sun shared a video showing him walking into the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, where top White House officials work. The White House did not respond to a question about whom Sun met with. In 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Sun with fraud, accusing him of manipulating the market for Tronix or TRX crypto. In February, after Trump took office, the SEC paused its investigation. Sun, who Forbes estimates is worth $8.5 billion, has other ties to Trumpworld. Before buying the meme coin, he invested $75 million in World Liberty Financial, a crypto project connected to the president and his sons. The White House previously said that it had nothing to do with the event. The dinner was held at Trump's private golf club outside Washington, where he spoke from behind a presidential podium. Trump stands to make millions off the meme coin. The $Trump coin website says the Trump Organization and affiliated entities control 80% of the meme coin. First lady Melania Trump also has her own coin. Sun has spent millions to participate in other headline-grabbing events. He shelled out $4.6 million to have lunch with Warren Buffett, $6.2 million to eat a duct-taped banana, and a staggering $28 million to fly on Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin (though Sun has yet to blast off). Representatives for the Trump Organization and Sun did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider. Read the original article on Business Insider Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Insider
23-05-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Crypto billionaire Justin Sun says he received a $100k Trump-branded watch at the president's meme coin dinner
Crypto billionaire Justin Sun said he received a $100,000 Trump-branded watch at President Donald Trump's meme coin dinner at at the Trump National Golf Club golf club outside of Washington DC on Thursday. The top 220 holders of the token were to invited to the event. Photos and video of the event show Sun posing with his fellow attendees. He signed a print-out of a leaderboard showing he was first among the top 220 Trump coin holders. Sun said he was gifted a Trump Tourbillion watch, which retails for $100,000, another of the president's private business interests that remain ongoing during his second term. The top 25 holders were treated to a more intimate reception with Trump. "I really appreciate, like, everything the Trump administration has done to our industry," Sun said in a video that he reposted on X. "As the president said right before, so like, basically, like, 100 days ago, like, they go after crypto people like everywhere. That's impossible for us to have such beautiful events in DC." As the top holder of $TRUMP and proud supporter of President Trump, it was an honor to attend the Trump Gala Dinner by @GetTrumpMemes. Thank you @POTUS for your unwavering support of our industry! #MakeCryptoGreatAgain 🇺🇸 — H.E. Justin Sun 🍌 (@justinsuntron) May 23, 2025 In a separate post, Sun shared a video showing him walking into the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, where top White House officials work. The White House did not respond to a question about whom Sun met with. In 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Sun with fraud, accusing him of manipulating the market for Tronix or TRX crypto. In February, after Trump took office, the SEC paused its investigation. Sun, who Forbes estimates is worth $8.5 billion, has other ties to the Trumpworld. Before buying the meme coin, he invested $75 million in World Liberty Financial, a crypto projected connected to the president and his sons. The White House previously said that it had nothing to do with the event. The dinner was held at Trump's private golf club outside of Washington, where he spoke from behind presidential podiums. Trump stands to make millions off of the coin. According to the $Trump coin website, the Trump Organization and affiliated entities control 80% of the meme coin. First Lady Melania Trump has her own coin, too. Sun has spent millions to participate in other headline-grabbing events. He shelled out $4.6 million to have lunch with Warren Buffett, $6.2 million to eat a duct-taped banana, and a staggering $28 million to fly on Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin (though Sun has yet to blast off).
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Justin Sun, investor in Trump-backed crypto business, gets break in fraud case
Justin Sun spent the remaining months of 2024 purchasing a duct-taped banana for $6.2 million and pumping millions more into a crypto business launched by the Trumps. This year, he's at the center of a crypto fraud case that federal regulators have put the brakes on. The Securities and Exchange Commission sued Sun and his crypto companies — Tron Foundation, BitTorrent Foundation and Rainberry — in March 2023, Reuters reported. The agency accused Sun of generating $31 million in digital assets by having his employees conduct hundreds of thousands of Tronix trades across two accounts he owned. This scheme could mislead investors and customers into thinking Sun's business is legitimate, the SEC charged. Sun was also accused of paying celebrities to promote his crypto assets and instructing them to not disclose that the endorsement was a paid sponsorship. Last week, lawyers for the SEC and Sun asked a federal judge to pause the civil fraud case "to allow the parties to explore a potential resolution,' according to media outlets that cited court documents. The judge granted the request. The development represented a complete shift for the SEC and fueled speculation that Trump is too cozy with the crypto industry. The SEC, Sun and the White House had no comment, CNN reported. Sun purchased $75 million worth of tokens from World Liberty Financial, a crypto platform launched by Trump, his sons and Steve Witkoff, Trump's Middle East envoy, per CNN. The Trumps are not employees or owners of the business but can receive a cut of revenues from its cryptocurrencies. Sun is one of World Liberty Financial's advisers. When Trump launched a meme coin days ahead of his inauguration, Anthony Scaramucci, a former Trump White House communications director, posted on X how the anonymous nature of crypto essentially means anyone could easily deposit money into Trump's bank account. 'Every favor — geopolitical, corporate or personal — is now on sale, right out in the open,' Scaramucci wrote. Others think the pausing of Sun's case signals a looser outlook on crypto for federal regulators in the years ahead, thanks to Trump's embrace of the digital asset. 'This is, I guess, going to be the new approach — hands off crypto, not enforcing fraud … and I don't think it's going to end well,' Richard Painter, a law professor at the University of Minnesota, told CNN. 'The SEC is going to back off — because that's what the Trump administration wants — on whatever enforcement they are able to do. I think it's a very worrisome situation.'
CNN
28-02-2025
- Business
- CNN
A crypto mogul who invested millions into Trump coins is getting a reprieve on civil fraud charges
A businessman who pumped $75 million into the Trump family-backed crypto token finds himself in a fortunate position this week as federal securities regulators are hitting pause on their civil fraud case against him. On Wednesday, lawyers for the Securities and Exchange Commission and Justin Sun, a 34-year-old Chinese crypto entrepreneur, asked a federal judge to put the agency's case on hold, citing the interests of both sides and 'the public's interest.' The pause is a 180 for the SEC, America's top financial regulator, which two years ago charged Sun and his companies — Tron, BitTorrent and Rainberry — with selling unregistered securities and fraudulently manipulating the price of digital token Tronix. Sun and his companies sought to have the case dismissed. Sun is a polarizing figure within the world of crypto, in which he has become one of the most prominent investors in the World Liberty Financial crypto project, backed by the Trump family. Sun's $75 million purchase of World Liberty tokens, which he's touted in social media posts, could set the Trump family up to eventually collect tens of millions of dollars, as the family is entitled to 75% of the tokens' revenues, according to the company. Sun is also an official adviser to World Liberty, which lists President Donald Trump as its 'chief crypto advocate' and his son Barron as its 'DeFi visionary.' World Liberty is just one of several crypto projects the president and his family have set up in recent months, raising concerns about potential corruption. By its nature, crypto offers a particularly easy way to, anonymously or otherwise, funnel money into assets that directly benefit the president and his family. 'Now anyone in world can essentially deposit money into bank account of President of USA with a couple clicks,' tweeted Anthony Scaramucci, former Trump White House communications director, after Trump launched a digital token known as a memecoin last month. 'Every favor — geopolitical, corporate or personal — is now on sale, right out in the open.' The SEC declined to comment. Neither the White House nor Sun responded to a request for comment. 'This is, I guess, going to be the new approach — hands off crypto, not enforcing fraud … and I don't think it's going to end well,' Richard Painter, a law professor at the University of Minnesota and an ethics lawyer for the George W. Bush administration, told me. 'The SEC is going to back off — because that's what the Trump administration wants — on whatever enforcement they are able to do. I think it's a very worrisome situation.' Meanwhile, in a widely expected move, the SEC on Thursday officially dropped its enforcement action against US crypto exchange Coinbase, citing 'the Commission's ongoing efforts to reform and renew its regulatory approach to the crypto industry.' The Sun case comes as the Trump administration appears to be opening the door to potential corruption beyond crypto. Critics across the political spectrum say it's a troubling trend for a president and a White House that is ditching guardrails at an alarming speed and gutting the government's ability to combat corruption. Since returning to office over a month ago, the president has paused all investigations into corporate foreign bribery and fired inspectors general from more than a dozen federal agencies. His Justice Department has moved to suspend its case against New York Mayor Eric Adams, whom prosecutors had accused of soliciting bribes from Turkish nationals (allegations Adams denies). Trump pardoned former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who spent eight years in prison on multiple corruption charges, including scheming to sell a vacant Senate seat. And earlier this month, Trump said that Elon Musk's financial disclosures would be kept confidential even as Musk wields power over federal agencies and contracts that directly impact his own business empire. The president has also come full circle on crypto, which he once dismissed as a scam. That's been a mixed blessing for the industry, which has been working to shed its well-earned reputation for illicit activities. On one hand, crypto advocates seeking to establish a legitimate regulatory framework have welcomed Trump's broadly positive rhetoric on digital assets. But Trump's memecoin ventures — along with his pardoning of Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the Silk Road criminal enterprise, and the SEC's heel-turn on its case against Sun — are the kind of fringe causes that reinforce the industry's association with bad actors. Within crypto, Sun is a polarizing figure. While the Tron community sees him as a visionary, his detractors see him as an opportunist who thrives on hype, said Gareth Rhodes, managing director at advisory firm Pacific Street. 'Both supporters and detractors can agree he wields substantial influence in crypto,' he added. Sun, who garnered headlines last year for his $6.2 million purchase of a banana duct-taped to a wall, is 'among the least sympathetic litigants in the industry,' Eric Soufer, a political adviser to major crypto companies, told me Thursday. The SEC and Sun's lawyers, in their letter to the judge, proposed submitting a status report 60 days after a stay, at which point there would likely be more details about the case's resolution, including any possible settlement. 'Obviously his connections to Trump Coin are going to raise questions,' Soufer added. 'But we need to see what the actual settlement looks like before we can judge just how much politics may have played a role.'
CNN
28-02-2025
- Business
- CNN
A crypto mogul who invested millions into Trump coins is getting a reprieve on civil fraud charges
A businessman who pumped $75 million into the Trump family-backed crypto token finds himself in a fortunate position this week as federal securities regulators are hitting pause on their civil fraud case against him. On Wednesday, lawyers for the Securities and Exchange Commission and Justin Sun, a 34-year-old Chinese crypto entrepreneur, asked a federal judge to put the agency's case on hold, citing the interests of both sides and 'the public's interest.' The pause is a 180 for the SEC, America's top financial regulator, which two years ago charged Sun and his companies — Tron, BitTorrent and Rainberry — with selling unregistered securities and fraudulently manipulating the price of digital token Tronix. Sun and his companies sought to have the case dismissed. Sun is a polarizing figure within the world of crypto, in which he has become one of the most prominent investors in the World Liberty Financial crypto project, backed by the Trump family. Sun's $75 million purchase of World Liberty tokens, which he's touted in social media posts, could set the Trump family up to eventually collect tens of millions of dollars, as the family is entitled to 75% of the tokens' revenues, according to the company. Sun is also an official adviser to World Liberty, which lists President Donald Trump as its 'chief crypto advocate' and his son Barron as its 'DeFi visionary.' World Liberty is just one of several crypto projects the president and his family have set up in recent months, raising concerns about potential corruption. By its nature, crypto offers a particularly easy way to, anonymously or otherwise, funnel money into assets that directly benefit the president and his family. 'Now anyone in world can essentially deposit money into bank account of President of USA with a couple clicks,' tweeted Anthony Scaramucci, former Trump White House communications director, after Trump launched a digital token known as a memecoin last month. 'Every favor — geopolitical, corporate or personal — is now on sale, right out in the open.' The SEC declined to comment. Neither the White House nor Sun responded to a request for comment. 'This is, I guess, going to be the new approach — hands off crypto, not enforcing fraud … and I don't think it's going to end well,' Richard Painter, a law professor at the University of Minnesota and an ethics lawyer for the George W. Bush administration, told me. 'The SEC is going to back off — because that's what the Trump administration wants — on whatever enforcement they are able to do. I think it's a very worrisome situation.' Meanwhile, in a widely expected move, the SEC on Thursday officially dropped its enforcement action against US crypto exchange Coinbase, citing 'the Commission's ongoing efforts to reform and renew its regulatory approach to the crypto industry.' The Sun case comes as the Trump administration appears to be opening the door to potential corruption beyond crypto. Critics across the political spectrum say it's a troubling trend for a president and a White House that is ditching guardrails at an alarming speed and gutting the government's ability to combat corruption. Since returning to office over a month ago, the president has paused all investigations into corporate foreign bribery and fired inspectors general from more than a dozen federal agencies. His Justice Department has moved to suspend its case against New York Mayor Eric Adams, whom prosecutors had accused of soliciting bribes from Turkish nationals (allegations Adams denies). Trump pardoned former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who spent eight years in prison on multiple corruption charges, including scheming to sell a vacant Senate seat. And earlier this month, Trump said that Elon Musk's financial disclosures would be kept confidential even as Musk wields power over federal agencies and contracts that directly impact his own business empire. The president has also come full circle on crypto, which he once dismissed as a scam. That's been a mixed blessing for the industry, which has been working to shed its well-earned reputation for illicit activities. On one hand, crypto advocates seeking to establish a legitimate regulatory framework have welcomed Trump's broadly positive rhetoric on digital assets. But Trump's memecoin ventures — along with his pardoning of Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the Silk Road criminal enterprise, and the SEC's heel-turn on its case against Sun — are the kind of fringe causes that reinforce the industry's association with bad actors. Within crypto, Sun is a polarizing figure. While the Tron community sees him as a visionary, his detractors see him as an opportunist who thrives on hype, said Gareth Rhodes, managing director at advisory firm Pacific Street. 'Both supporters and detractors can agree he wields substantial influence in crypto,' he added. Sun, who garnered headlines last year for his $6.2 million purchase of a banana duct-taped to a wall, is 'among the least sympathetic litigants in the industry,' Eric Soufer, a political adviser to major crypto companies, told me Thursday. The SEC and Sun's lawyers, in their letter to the judge, proposed submitting a status report 60 days after a stay, at which point there would likely be more details about the case's resolution, including any possible settlement. 'Obviously his connections to Trump Coin are going to raise questions,' Soufer added. 'But we need to see what the actual settlement looks like before we can judge just how much politics may have played a role.'
