Introduction to Justin Sun’s Legal Troubles

Chinese crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun has been dealing with legal issues, which now seem to be diminishing. In March 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused him of manipulating the market. This was after he invested $30 million in President Trump’s World Liberty Financial crypto scheme following Trump’s election. A federal judge has recently granted him a stay in the SEC’s investigation.

Background on Justin Sun

Justin Sun is a well-known Chinese crypto mogul, famous for paying $6.2 million for a banana duct-taped to a wall. He consumed the banana in front of cameras in Hong Kong after the payment was cleared, an event that took place in November when the threat of an SEC-led fraud investigation was still looming over him. Sun is the owner of several companies, including Tron Foundation Limited, BitTorrent Foundation Ltd., and Rainberry Inc. (formerly BitTorrent). According to an SEC press release from 2023, Sun allegedly used his companies for washing trade securities, purchasing them with one company and immediately buying them with another. He also allegedly paid for celebrity endorsements without disclosing the agreements.

SEC Charges and Settlements

When the SEC charged Sun, they also charged eight celebrities who were allegedly involved in the scheme, including Lindsay Lohan, Jake Paul, Soula Boy, and Lil Yachty. Several of these celebrities, including Lohan, agreed to pay $400,000 to settle the SEC investigation. It appears that Sun’s SEC legal troubles are coming to an end.

Involvement with Trump’s Crypto Scheme

Trump’s family has been working on the WLF crypto scheme for a long time, but it gained traction after his election, partly due to a significant push from Sun. The scheme was designed so that its founders would retain 70 percent of the project’s "governance" tokens and would only receive a substantial payout if the token reached a certain investment threshold. Around the time he bought the banana, Sun "invested" $30 million into WLF, pushing the coin into the threshold needed to release cash into Trump’s pocket, netting the President around $18 million. Sun later became an advisor to WLF and then invested another $45 million into the company. According to Bloomberg, this means Trump has received around $56 million in total "fees" from Sun related to WLF.

Public Statements and Court Developments

Days after the inauguration, Sun praised President Trump in a post, stating that any success he had in cryptocurrency was thanks to President Trump and predicting that both Trump Coin and World Liberty Financial would perform exceptionally well. On February 26, the SEC and Sun’s lawyers sent a letter to the judge for the case, suggesting a stay while they considered a potential resolution. The judge granted the stay a day later. Sun shared news of the stay on X, symbolizing the deal with handshake emojis. This development is seen as another deal being struck by the Trump administration.

🤝🏻🤝🏻🤝🏻 https://t.co/reuXqSG4F4
— H.E. Justin Sun 🍌 (@justinsuntron) February 27, 2025