Most Talked-About Controversies Linked to Justin Sun

Public opinion and media debates around Justin Sun—discover key moments of controversy.

Justin Sun is a Chinese-born Kittitian crypto billionaire and businessman known for founding TRON, the blockchain platform and its associated Tronix (TRX) cryptocurrency token. He is also behind the USDD stablecoin issued by TRON DAO Reserve. Sun owns Rainberry, the company responsible for the BitTorrent protocol, and oversaw the development of the BTT cryptocurrency token. Additionally, he owns the cryptocurrency exchanges Poloniex and HTX. He served as the Permanent Representative of Grenada to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva from 2021 to 2023.

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Full Timeline Early Life & Education Career & Achievements Controversies & Scandals

September 2017: Tron ICO

In September 2017, Justin Sun's company Tron held an initial coin offering (ICO) for the TRX token, raising about $70 million, just before the Chinese government banned ICOs.

June 2019: Winning bid for dinner with Warren Buffett

In June 2019, Justin Sun placed the winning $4.6 million bid to have a private meal with Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett, before canceling it to widespread surprise.

2019: Peiwo shut down by Chinese government

Around 2019, Peiwo was removed from app stores and shut down by the Chinese government for content that "disrupts socialist values."

2020: Civil lawsuit filed against Sun

In 2020, a civil lawsuit was filed against Justin Sun by former TRON employees with allegations "ranging from fraud to harassment to whistleblower retaliation".

2021: Allegations regarding Poloniex customer funds

In 2021, The Verge alleged that Justin Sun demanded personal ownership of misplaced Poloniex customer funds, despite the objections of Poloniex employees.

2022: FBI investigation

As of 2022, Justin Sun was allegedly under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York for potential criminal prosecution.

2022: Warming relations with CCP

By 2022, Justin Sun's relationship with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had begun to warm, after reportedly falling out of favour for leaving to the United States, with an article authored by Sun on blockchain being published on Study Xi, Strong Nation, and Sun was also appointed to a teaching position on blockchain at the Central Party School.

March 2023: SEC filed suit against Sun

In March 2023, under the Biden administration, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed suit against Justin Sun for selling unregistered securities related to the sale and promotion of Tron (TRX) and BitTorrent (BTT) tokens.

November 2024: Purchased and ate Comedian artwork

In November 2024, Justin Sun purchased one of the limited edition rights to Comedian, a 2019 conceptual artwork by Maurizio Cattelan consisting of a banana duct-taped to a wall, for $5.2 million at an auction in New York. He ate the banana onstage.

2024: Investment in World Liberty Financial

In 2024, Justin Sun invested reportedly at least $75 million in World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency company associated with Donald Trump.

February 2025: SEC dropped lawsuit against Sun

In February 2025, the SEC dropped its lawsuit against Justin Sun, following Donald Trump's inauguration as president. Sun had purchased $75 million worth of tokens from the Trump-associated World Liberty Financial prior to the SEC dropping the case.

December 2025: Lenient treatment from the SEC

In December 2025, The New York Times reported that Justin Sun's companies had received lenient treatment from the SEC after forming business ties with Donald Trump's companies.