The United States Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun and three
of his companies with engaging in wash trades with the Tronix (TRX)
token. Additionally, the securities regulator accused both parties of unregistered
offers and sales of TRX and BitTorrent (BTT) tokens.
In a press statement released on
Wednesday, the SEC disclosed that it had brought charges against eight American
celebrities for promoting TRX and/or BTT without disclosing that they were paid
to do so. In addition, they failed to reveal how much they were paid, the regulator
said.
Today we charged crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun and three of his wholly-owned companies for the unregistered offer and sale of crypto asset securities Tronix and BitTorrent.
Read more:https://t.co/4tXgKNof6Q
— U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (@SECGov) March 22, 2023
The celebrities include actress
and singer Lindsay Lohan, social media influencer and professional boxer, Jake
Paul, rapper and record producer, DeAndre ‘Soulja Boy’ Way, singer Austin
Mahone, and porn star Michele Mason, popularly known as ‘Kendra Lust’. Other
celebrities include rapper and record producer Miles ‘Lil Yachty’ McCollum,
singer Shaffer ‘Ne-Yo’ Smith, and singer and entrepreneur, Aliaune ‘Akon’
Thiam.
However, the SEC noted that all the
celebrities with the exception of ‘Soulja Boy,’ and Mahone, have agreed to pay
a total of over $400,000 to settle the charges without admitting or denying the
findings.
SEC Accuses Justin Sun of ‘Extensive Wash Trading’
According to the SEC, in its
complaint filed before a district court in New York, it accused Sun of “extensive wash trading” by inflating the trading volume of TRX in the secondary market, thereby
contravening antifraud and market manipulation provisions of federal securities
laws. Moreover, the regulator accused the TRON founder of making $31 million in illicit profit from the sale of “unregistered” TRX into the secondary market.
“From at least April 2018
through February 2019, Sun allegedly directed his employees to engage in more
than 600,000 wash trades of TRX between two crypto asset trading platform
accounts he controlled, with between 4.5 million and 7.4 million TRX wash
traded daily,” the SEC explained.
In addition, the regulator
alleged that Sun and his companies, Tron Foundation Ltd., BitTorrent
Foundation Limited and Rainberry Inc., organized several unregistered “bounty
programs” where they offered and sold TRX and BRT as investments. On top of that, they held
unregistered monthly airdrops where they sold BTT to investors including those residing
in the United States.
“This case demonstrates again
the high-risk investors face when crypto asset securities are offered and sold
without proper disclosure,” Gary Gensler, the SEC Chair, noted in the statement.
Early Reactions
Early reactions from stakeholders in the cryptocurrency industry suggest they are not all taken aback by SEC’s action.
Wow. Was literally explaining to some folks last night what Justin Sun with wash trading $TRX
Was getting ready to actually add some Tron to the portfolio bc I thought it would have a good run. But now… is TRX going to face suppression like XRP?https://t.co/ZiKFtZsVBN
— Ben Armstrong (@Bitboy_Crypto) March 22, 2023
The SEC suing TRON founder Justin Sun on charges of fraud and market manipulation is the least surprising thing that’s happened in crypto.
— Mr. Whale (@WhaleWire) March 22, 2023
The United States Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun and three
of his companies with engaging in wash trades with the Tronix (TRX)
token. Additionally, the securities regulator accused both parties of unregistered
offers and sales of TRX and BitTorrent (BTT) tokens.
In a press statement released on
Wednesday, the SEC disclosed that it had brought charges against eight American
celebrities for promoting TRX and/or BTT without disclosing that they were paid
to do so. In addition, they failed to reveal how much they were paid, the regulator
said.
Today we charged crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun and three of his wholly-owned companies for the unregistered offer and sale of crypto asset securities Tronix and BitTorrent.
Read more:https://t.co/4tXgKNof6Q
— U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (@SECGov) March 22, 2023
The celebrities include actress
and singer Lindsay Lohan, social media influencer and professional boxer, Jake
Paul, rapper and record producer, DeAndre ‘Soulja Boy’ Way, singer Austin
Mahone, and porn star Michele Mason, popularly known as ‘Kendra Lust’. Other
celebrities include rapper and record producer Miles ‘Lil Yachty’ McCollum,
singer Shaffer ‘Ne-Yo’ Smith, and singer and entrepreneur, Aliaune ‘Akon’
Thiam.
However, the SEC noted that all the
celebrities with the exception of ‘Soulja Boy,’ and Mahone, have agreed to pay
a total of over $400,000 to settle the charges without admitting or denying the
findings.
SEC Accuses Justin Sun of ‘Extensive Wash Trading’
According to the SEC, in its
complaint filed before a district court in New York, it accused Sun of “extensive wash trading” by inflating the trading volume of TRX in the secondary market, thereby
contravening antifraud and market manipulation provisions of federal securities
laws. Moreover, the regulator accused the TRON founder of making $31 million in illicit profit from the sale of “unregistered” TRX into the secondary market.
“From at least April 2018
through February 2019, Sun allegedly directed his employees to engage in more
than 600,000 wash trades of TRX between two crypto asset trading platform
accounts he controlled, with between 4.5 million and 7.4 million TRX wash
traded daily,” the SEC explained.
In addition, the regulator
alleged that Sun and his companies, Tron Foundation Ltd., BitTorrent
Foundation Limited and Rainberry Inc., organized several unregistered “bounty
programs” where they offered and sold TRX and BRT as investments. On top of that, they held
unregistered monthly airdrops where they sold BTT to investors including those residing
in the United States.
“This case demonstrates again
the high-risk investors face when crypto asset securities are offered and sold
without proper disclosure,” Gary Gensler, the SEC Chair, noted in the statement.
Early Reactions
Early reactions from stakeholders in the cryptocurrency industry suggest they are not all taken aback by SEC’s action.
Wow. Was literally explaining to some folks last night what Justin Sun with wash trading $TRX
Was getting ready to actually add some Tron to the portfolio bc I thought it would have a good run. But now… is TRX going to face suppression like XRP?https://t.co/ZiKFtZsVBN
— Ben Armstrong (@Bitboy_Crypto) March 22, 2023
The SEC suing TRON founder Justin Sun on charges of fraud and market manipulation is the least surprising thing that’s happened in crypto.
— Mr. Whale (@WhaleWire) March 22, 2023