Justin Sun Reportedly Issued Summons in SEC Lawsuit
Justin Sun reportedly has 21 days to respond to the SEC lawsuit
Immersion Imagery/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks
Justin Sun, founder of Tron, has reportedly received a summons to respond to the SEC lawsuit filed on March 22 in the Southern District of New York.
According to The Straits Times, Sun has 21 days to respond to the summons, which was mailed to a residential and office location in Singapore. According to the original SEC filing, Sun is believed to be living in Singapore or Hong Kong.
The SEC charged Sun with “fraudulently manipulating the secondary market for TRX through extensive wash trading.” Meaning that trades were allegedly made without a change in “beneficial ownership.”
Per the SEC’s claim, the distribution and sale of BTT and TRX allegedly required Sun to register the sales with the agency because they were allegedly sold as securities.
The agency also claimed that Sun orchestrated “a scheme to pay celebrities to tout TRX and BTT without disclosing their compensation.”
It also named eight celebrities in its probe, but said that it had settled with those parties — including Lindsay Lohan and Aliaune Thiam, also known as Akon.
Sun initially responded to the claims in March, saying that it’s “just the latest example of actions it has taken against well-known players in the blockchain and crypto space. We believe the complaint lacks merit, and in the meantime will continue building the most decentralized financial system.”
But also noted that he is “eager” to collaborate with regulators and governments “dedicated to establishing transparent guidelines for regulating” the cryptocurrency industry.
Justin Sun did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:
- The Breakdown: Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily.
- Empire: Crypto news and analysis to start your day.
- Forward Guidance: The intersection of crypto, macro and policy.
- 0xResearch: Alpha directly in your inbox.
- Lightspeed: All things Solana.
- The Drop: Apps, games, memes and more.
- Supply Shock: Bitcoin, bitcoin, bitcoin.
