SEC Claims Justin Sun’s Extensive Travels to the US Bolster Lawsuit Allegations

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the United States has revised its lawsuit against Justin Sun, the founder of Tron. The SEC argues that it has jurisdiction over Sun, Tron, and two other businesses he controls because they intentionally conducted activities directed at the United States. In an amended complaint filed on April 17 in a Manhattan federal court, the regulator claimed that Sun spent a total of over 380 days in the U.S. between 2017 and 2019 on business trips to New York City, Boston, and San Francisco. The SEC alleges that these trips were made on behalf of the Tron Foundation, the BitTorrent Foundation, and Rainberry, all of which are referred to as Sun’s “alter ego” firms in the lawsuit. The SEC reiterated its previous allegations that Sun and his businesses sold unregistered securities through the Tron (TRX) and BitTorrent (BTT) tokens, and that Sun engaged in manipulative wash trading. The SEC specifically stated that TRX and BTT were promoted, offered, and sold to consumers and investors in the United States, and that Sun extensively traveled to the U.S. during this time. The SEC also claimed that Sun’s alleged wash trades with TRX took place on the Seattle-based crypto exchange Bittrex. In late March, Sun, a Chinese-born Grenadian citizen, requested the dismissal of the lawsuit, arguing that the SEC applied U.S. security laws to predominantly foreign conduct and had no jurisdiction over him or the Singapore-based Tron Foundation. Sun’s lawyers have not yet commented on the matter.