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Justin Sun

TRON Celebrates 5-Year Anniversary; All Set For Hong Kong Expansion

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TRON [TRX] mainnet celebrated its fifth anniversary with close to 160 million users since its launch in 2018. The leading public chain has so far processed over 5 billion transactions.

It also outshined the altcoin pack with a TVL [Total Value Locked] of $5.76 billion, trailing behind Ethereum.

In addition, it is anticipating the launch of the Hong Kong retail crypto trading platform which is scheduled to be on June 1 in accordance with the press release.

Following TRON’s anniversary, Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission [SFC] will begin accepting applications for crypto trading platform licenses on June 1. As a top-tier public chain with a Chinese background, we promised full support for Hong Kong’s efforts to develop Web 3.0.

The statistics on Tether’s website showed that the amount of TRC20-USDT in circulation has surpassed 46.1 billion, much exceeding the amount of ERC20-USDT [36 billion], and making over 60% of the total supply of USDT.

Meanwhile, the TRON team is also working towards building a diversified stablecoin network and a sounder public chain ecosystem for users through its sustained efforts to grow the business of USDC, TUSD, USDD, and USDJ, among other stablecoins.

The TRON blockchain, led by crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun, seeks to increase its on-chain stablecoin market cap to $100 billion in 2023 and aspires to become the stablecoin users’ first option by promoting itself as “a more accessible and user-friendly version of Ethereum.”

“Against the ever-fiercer competition among public chains around the world, it has stood out with its second-to-none performance, scalability, and security, attracting masses of developers and users worldwide,” it added.

TRON was in the limelight recently after a security flaw was made public by the researchers at dWallet Labs.

TRON’s Major Security Risk Averted

In a tweet, dWallet Labs stated that they spotted a zero-day vulnerability in Tron multisig accounts, allowing an attacker to avoid the multisignature system and sign transactions with a single signature.

If left unfixed, the vulnerability might have risk $500 million worth of funds housed in Tron multisig accounts. This is due to the fact that it enables anyone to “completely overcome the multisig security offered by TRON.”

The solution, according to dWallet Labs CEO Omer Sadika, is straightforward: validate the address rather than the number of signatures. The issue was reported to the blockchain’s team in February and resolved a few days later, the researchers stated.

TRON Founder Plans To “Actively” Trade Meme Coins For Fun

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Justin Sun, founder of the TRON blockchain has expressed interest in actively trading meme coins and other promising projects through his public address.

The TRON founder also stated that any future benefits emerging out of exchanging these tokens will be given to charity, and would personally bear losses if any.

Sun then clarified that his tweet shouldn’t be interpreted as financial advice and advised readers to conduct their own research before making any investments.

However, it’s crucial to remember that my investments do not constitute financial advice, and there is no guarantee of listing these projects on any exchange, including HuobiGlobal and Poloniex. I am simply trading coins for fun. Always do your own research before investing!

A few days back, Sun, who is also a crypto entrepreneur pledged to fund up to $1 million to attract meme coin developers to build on his Tron network.

In addition to the monetary support, the Tron founder offered a prioritized listing of participating meme coins on Huobi and Poloniex.

Moreover, Sun also revealed that TronDAO will create a Memeverse fund, which will allocate 20 million TRX to reward the most popular meme token projects within the Tron ecosystem. 

The announcements go beyond simple acts of generosity.

As a seasoned entrepreneur, the TRON founder is aware of the importance of luring as many alluring investment projects to the blockchain as possible.

TRON Founder’s SUI “Market Making” Fiasco

The initiatives are part of his strategy to capitalize on the meme coin mania that is currently permeating the crypto market as profit-seeking traders continue to pour more money into these assets.

Not long ago, the TRON founder set sights on the then highly awaited Sui tokens of a layer-1 blockchain created by Mysten Labs.

For most context, Binance released two LaunchPools for the token on April 30 declaring that users could stake either BNB or TrueUSD [TUSD] to farm a portion of the 40 million Sui tokens available in each pool.

But the frenzy over the Sui token was so intense even Sun could not resist who was spotted transferring around $56 million worth of TrueUSD [TUSD] stablecoins on the exchange.

After getting publicly rebuked by Binance CEO, Sun later issued an apology with regard to the deposit, claiming that the funds were intended for “market making,” before returning back the farmed tokens.

TRON Sinks to Two-Week-Low After Binance.US Announce Delisting

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TRON [TRX] fell by over 7% hitting a two-week low after Binance.US discloses plans to delist the token. In the announcement post, the US trading platform stated that it would remove TRX and Spell [SPELL] on April 18, 2023.

Binance.US in its blog said that it periodically reviews each digital asset to ensure that it continues to meet the standard in a rapidly evolving industry.

“When a digital asset no longer meets our high standards, or industry circumstances change, we conduct a more in-depth review of the affected asset and assess whether further action is necessary [i.e. delisting],” it added.

Although the trading company did not specifically say which evaluation criteria the aforementioned tokens fell short of, it listed a number of factors that had a role in the decision to delist the tokens.

Some of these are- changes in a digital asset token’s risk profile and regulatory standing in the United States. evidence of unethical/fraudulent conduct or negligence etc.

It should come as no surprise, judging from the listed factors, that one of the delisted tokens recently came under regulatory fire.

The US SEC has filed a lawsuit against three firms led by Justin Sun, TRON Foundation, BitTorrent Foundation, and Rainberry for allegedly marketing and airdropping TRX and BTT as unregistered securities.

In the press release, the regulator alleged the defendants “fraudulently manipulat[ed]” TRX’s secondary market through an “extensive wash trading” scheme.

Sun, former Grenada’s ambassador to the World Trade Organization, also lost his diplomatic rank after the party that granted him the post was ousted from power in June 2022.

Recently the Tron founder was caught amid rumors of arrest after his arrival in Hong Kong.

TRON Founder’s Reply To Arrest Rumors

Crypto YouTuber Ben Armstrong who goes by BitBoy posted a tweet about the alleged arrest, triggering a reaction from the crypto community.

The news quickly gained traction and was covered by the media. Sun responded with the signal “4”, which has grown in popularity in the crypto world, of late.

Binance CEO Chanpeng “CZ” Zhao added his two cents, writing the same number in response to the rumor. CZ made use of the number “4” to encourage people to “ignore FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt), fake news, attacks, etc.”

TRON Founder Dismiss Reports Of Binance/Huobi Deal

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Justin Sun, the founder of TRON, has come clean about the Binance Huobi transaction, stating that he did not make any such offer to the CZ-led trading platform.

We have always regarded Binance as one of our most important partners and will continue to work closely with them on all levels. However, I must point out that in the past week or so, I have not proposed any offer to in the past week or so.

Sun was responding to the rumors about Binance rejecting Sun’s alleged proposal to acquire his ownership stake in Huobi.

Recently, a person familiar with the matter claimed that Binance was not interested due to rumors that Huobi has connections to mainland China, which the top exchange does not want to be associated with.

A month back, Sun-backed Huobi exchange, announced an expansion of its operations in Hong Kong and planned to apply for a virtual asset service provider [VASP] license in the Chinese territory.

In Jan, Sun lauded China’s implementation of taxes on cryptocurrency transactions calling the move a positive step for the global crypto market.

“The tax policy is expected to boost the adoption of cryptocurrencies in the country, as it provides a clear regulatory framework for individuals and businesses,” he stated.

Additionally, he spoke about how TRON and Huobi are leading the expansion and advancement of blockchain technology in China.

TRON’s Justin Sun Alleged Closeness To China Might Have Fueled The Rumours

This comes amidst US regulators who have intensified their enforcement drive against several leading crypto players, including TRON’s Sun who was recently slapped with a lawsuit for alleged market manipulation.

The crypto entrepreneur has since attempted to steer Huobi toward China-controlled Hong Kong insisting that the expansion strategy won’t be impacted by the U.S. civil fraud allegations.

Despite the fact that Huobi was not mentioned in the SEC lawsuit, experts felt that the U.S. regulator’s move would make it more challenging for Hong Kong’s Securities Futures Commission [SFC] to approve a VASP application by Huobi.

While Sun’s latest statement on Binance and Huibo’s alleged deal might have put an end to the speculation, it will be interesting to see his next move in light of the SEC lawsuit.

That said, the crypto billionaire announced an interest to integrate ZK-EVM into TRON and BitTorrent ecosystems. However, it is uncertain when it will be implemented.

TRON’s Justin Sun No Longer Grenada’s WTO Ambassador?

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TRON founder Justin Sun has reportedly lost his diplomat status after the party that granted him the post was ousted from power in June 2022.

The crypto billionaire carried his credentials, addressing himself as “His Excellency” on social media ever since the Grenadan government appointed him as its ambassador to the World Trade Organization in 2021.

A recent report by the Grenada Broadcasting Network revealed that all diplomats selected by the New National Party were recalled at some point in the “early months” of the current nine months of administration of the National Democratic Congress which succeeded after ousting the NNP in June 2022.

Representatives of Grenada’s foreign affairs office or government information services did not respond to inquiries about whether Sun is still a diplomat.

According to the latest updates, Sun has now admitted that his tenure as Grenada’s ambassador concluded on March 31, 2023.

The TRON founder continued to use the honorific “H.E.” on his personal Twitter account as of the time this article was being written.

Nevertheless, the reports have reignited interest, particularly after Sun and his firms Rainberry, BitTorrent Foundation, and Tron Foundation were charged with conspiring to distribute billions of Tronix [TRX] and BitTorrent [BTT] cryptocurrency assets and inflate trading volume since August 2017.

The lawsuit also cast doubts on Sun’s other venture- Huobi Global’s expansion plan in Hong Kong.

But, the TRON founder continues to strike a confident posture saying that Huobi’s commercial plans in the Chinese-controlled territory will not be affected by the U.S. civil fraud allegations.

Notwithstanding the challenges, the Sun-backed cryptocurrency exchange has formed a major collaboration.

TRON Founder led Huobi Global Partners Gala Games

As per a press release published on March 31, the Seychelles-based trading platform announced a strategic partnership with blockchain-based play-to-earn gaming platform Gala Games.

Both of the major players will work together to invest in and list the best initiatives in the Gala ecosystem. Gala Games and Huobi will additionally aid in ecosystem growth, co-branding, project creation, and community building, as stated in the blog.

That said, the TRON founder who owns a majority stake in Huobi recently lauded Hong Kong’s growing attention calling it “one of the experiment zones for crypto development in China.” 

Besides the Chinese-controlled territory, Huobi’s other key regions for business are Malaysia and the Caribbean. 

TRON Founder’s Hong Kong Expansion Plan In Jeopardy?

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The founder of the TRON blockchain, Justin Sun has been recently served legal notice by the US Security and Exchange Commission for illicit sales of the cryptocurrencies TRX and BitTorrent [BTT], respectively.

In response, Sun called the lawsuit lacking in merit and that the foundation would continue to create the most decentralized financial system possible.

A month back, Sun-backed Huobi exchange, announced an expansion of its operations in Hong Kong and planned to apply for a virtual asset service provider [VASP] license in the Chinese territory.

Since then, the crypto entrepreneur has resorted to praising the nation for its crypto-friendly policy.

The TRON founder continues to strike a confident posture saying that Huobi’s commercial plans in Hong Kong will not be affected by the U.S. civil fraud allegations. As per a Huobi official in a Telegram message, there were “no changes [in plans] for us.”

Despite the fact that Huobi was not mentioned in the SEC lawsuit, a local news outlet, Nikkei Asia, said that the U.S. regulator’s move would make it more challenging for Hong Kong’s Securities Futures Commission [SFC] to approve a VASP application by Huobi.

According to Joshua Chu, a crypto lawyer,” an allegation of past market misconduct may torpedo if not exponentially make it harder for a smooth application process, as envisioned as the [SFC] will be under notice to place extreme scrutiny.”

In addition, legal professionals who counsel crypto companies on license issues indicated that when evaluating VASP applicants, the Hong Kong SFC closely watches any enforcement action taken by regulators in other jurisdictions.

TRON Founder-backed Huobi Exchange Embarks On A Difficult Journey

“In the virtual asset service provider licensing framework, the SFC will also consider the regulatory status of a VASP’s operations and virtual assets listed on its platform in other jurisdictions, not just Hong Kong,” said Kristi Swartz, partner at DLA Piper.

“For example, a VASP must consider whether a virtual asset is subject to any pending regulatory or enforcement actions relating to its issuance before listing it for trading.”

That said, the TRON founder who has a majority stake in Huobi said Hong Kong’s heightened attention is a result of its standing as “one of the experiment zones for crypto development in China.” 

Besides the Chinese-controlled territory, Huobi’s other key regions for business are Malaysia and the Caribbean. 

TRON’s Justin Sun Posts Cryptic Tweet After SEC’s Lawsuit

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TRON Founder Justin Sun was served with a legal notice by the US Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC] for illicit sales of the cryptocurrencies TRX and BitTorrent [BTT], respectively.

The Chinese crypto entrepreneur and his firms Tron Foundation, BitTorrent Foundation, and Rainberry were accused of distributing billions of the above-mentioned crypto assets since August 2017.

As per the suit filed by the SEC in the Southern District of New York, Sun also engaged in manipulative wash trading of TRX to create artificial demand and keep TRX’s price afloat.

Sun accomplished this wash trading through his firms, SEC alleged. The regulator also accused the crypto billionaire of misleading investors with false claims on social media, in February 2021.

“To drive public interest in TRX and BTT, the Sun Defendants created a publicity campaign that involved paying celebrities, including Defendants Austin Mahone [“Mahone”] and DeAndre Cortez Way, among others, to promote or tout TRX and BTT on their social media accounts, which had millions of followers”.

Justin Sun responded to the lawsuit on Twitter by claiming that the SEC’s civil complaint is without substance and that the foundation would continue to create the most decentralized financial system possible.

The SEC’s civil complaint earlier today is 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.

Apart from a cryptic Chinese tweet that read, “Big Pumps,” Sun had not provided any additional information as of the time of publishing this story.

TRON’s Native Token TRX Plummets By Over 16% In 6 Hours

The TRON founder was among several other individuals that were charged with illegally advertising his crypto holdings by the regulators, along with artist Soulja Boy and actress Lindsay Lohan.

Gary Gensler, the chair of the SEC, underlined in his statement that this case serves as a warning of the possible dangers that holders of unregistered securities may encounter.

The price of TRX has been significantly impacted by the lawsuit news, with the token’s value dropping more than 16% in a span of just 6 hours.

At press time, the 15-ranked token is still down by over 7% in the last 24 hours to trade at $0.06.

Justin Sun’s TRON Retains 2nd Spot On DeFi TVL

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TRON blockchain has maintained its second spot since Jan, ahead of BSC by $100 million in the latest ranking compiled by leading data tracker coinmarketcap.

Ethereum dominated the chart with over $28 billion total value locked, followed by TRON with $4.9 billion and BNB in the third spot at $4.8 billion.

Even though negligible, the margin is still noticeable. Tron has kept its TVL level while BNB Chain’s slight decline has helped it advance.

Justin Sun-led network flipped BNB Chain, which had been steadily declining over the previous few months, on January 2-3. In November 2022, BNB Chain had more than $6 billion in TVL, whereas, in the previous two months, Tron’s TVL fluctuated between $4 and $5 billion.

Interestingly, Binance’s stablecoin, BUSD, has lately been incorporated into Tron. Just one week after integration, the pegged form of BUSD has topped $101 million in TVL.

TRX’s greater TVL ranking could be attributed to higher network demand. Furthermore, it might lead to a long-term rise in demand and a positive perception of the network.

While TRON dominates TVL, BNB continues to lead in terms of protocol count, trailing only Ethereum. According to Defillama statistics, the former is home to 17 protocols, while the latter houses 561.

The BNB Chain, formerly known as the Binance Smart Chain [BSC], is a blockchain-powered by Binance that is community-driven, decentralized, and censorship-resistant.

It is made up of the EVM-compatible BNB Beacon Chain and BNB Smart Chain, which support a multi-chain ecosystem.

Having said that, the digital asset industry was just recuperating from the collapse of the crypto trifecta banks when another top European bank waved the red flag.

TRON Founder Proposes Acquisition Deal

Switzerland-based On March 14, Credit Suisse released its annual report, where it acknowledged “material weaknesses” in internal controls over financial reporting.

The following day, Saudi National Bank, its largest backer, turned down to provide a bailout, resulting in a decline of over 25% in the bank’s share price.

All attempts at preventing investors and clients to pull out money from the bank failed. With the help of Swiss regulators, the UBS group inked a deal of $3.25 billion to pump liquidity into the beleaguered bank.

As reported by TronWeekly, the TRON founder proposed to acquire the bank for $1.5 billion.

TRON Founder Steps Into Rescue Credit Suisse For the 2nd Time

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After UBS’ bid for the troubled bank Credit Suisse fell short, Justin Sun, founder of the TRON blockchain, proposed a $1.5 billion acquisition deal for the institution.

In his Twitter thread, the crypto billionaire claimed that turning Credit Suisse into a financial institution that supports cryptocurrencies, would pave the way for a more creative and decentralized financial system.

By acquiring Credit Suisse and transforming it into a crypto-friendly financial institution, we can create a new standard for financial innovation that benefits everyone. We can also leverage the country’s progressive policies and position ourselves as a leader in financial innovation.

The digital asset industry was just recuperating from the collapse of the crypto trifecta banks when another major European bank waved the red flag.

On 14 March, Switzerland-based Credit Suisse presented its annual report for 2022 stating that it had found serious deficiencies in the controls over financial reporting.

The bank’s share price fell by about 25% the following day after its biggest backer, Saudi National Bank, turned down further financial support.

Later that same week, Credit Suisse used a variety of strategies to raise money, including a 50 billion Swiss franc loan from the Swiss National Bank.

All that, however, failed to stop as investors and clients continued to withdraw money from Credit Suisse, with withdrawals reaching over 10 billion Swiss Francs.

TRON Founder Assistance To Crisis-Hit Credit Suisse

In order to avoid a potential bank run, the Swiss authorities persuaded the UBS group to acquire the troubled bank.

As per the latest reports, UBS declared that it has struck an agreement to buy Credit Suisse for $3.25 billion [CHF 3 billion] in an all-stock transaction.

That being said, this isn’t the first time the TRON founder has proposed to help the distressed bank.

Back in Oct 2022, the crypto mogul expressed interest to buy shares of the embattled investment bank and bring it to web3.

The bank’s CEO, Ulrich Koerner, then released a strategic plan that was regarded as the bank’s “D-Day” in order to prevent bankruptcy.

A few weeks ago, Sun delivered on his pledge to send $100 million USDC, into the Huobi exchange’s newly established liquidity fund, TronWeekly reported.

According to the TRON founder, “leveraged liquidation on the market driven by a few users” was what led to the sharp declines in the price of the exchange’s native token HT and subsequent comeback.

TRON Founder Optimistic About Asian Economy Despite SVB Collapse

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Justin Sun, the founder of TRON blockchain, shared his thoughts on Twitter about the effects of the SVB crash on the Asian markets.

Sun expressed confidence in the limited impact on the Asian economy following the collapse of the two main crypto-focused banks, the other being Silvergate Capital.

Previously, the TRON founder emphasized the value of stablecoins to the ecosystem and supported the notion of establishing a banking system to bridge the divide between conventional finance and cryptocurrencies.

During the weekend, the failure of the crypto banking trifecta had an impact on the market for digital assets, particularly stablecoins.

To recall, USDC issuer Circle recently admitted to having $3.3 billion reserves with the beleaguered SVB after the second-most liquid U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin – lost its peg, dropping below 87 cents at one point.

Given USDC’s domineering influence, major stablecoin ecosystems followed suit in de-pegging from the U.S. dollar.

The supply of TRON’s algorithmic stablecoin USDD decreased as well, practically halving from $1.03 billion at the beginning of March to a little over $530 million as of March 12.

USDD reacted negatively to the USDC sell-off with a nearly 7.5% drop to trade at $0.98 at press time.

On the other hand, as panicked investors sought out alternatives, the other stablecoins surprised everyone by taking over the platform. Tether [USDT], the largest stablecoin in the world, now has a supply of over 40 billion.

According to Tronscan data, the supply of USDT increased significantly after Paxos stopped minting BUSD, the second stablecoin under pressure in the ecosystem.

Notwithstanding the repercussions, Tron published a blog post recently detailing the status of some of the significant projects that were based on the ecosystem.

Upcoming Projects In TRON Ecosystem

Blockbank, a platform for financial services, was one of the significant projects in the pipeline. TRON and Blockbank teamed up to develop credit cards that can be loaded with TRX and used much like Visa cards.

TRON team also talked about the Unifi protocol, a platform for smart contracts created to support the growth of decentralized finance [DeFi].

At the time of publication, TRX’s price had risen by about 12% on CoinMarketCap, with a staggering 116% spike in trading volume.