By Luc Cohen
NEW YORK, March 5 (Reuters) – The Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun reached a $10 million settlement to resolve a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission civil fraud case over his trading activity.
Thursday’s settlement requires court approval, with the payment made by one of Sun’s companies.
It came as President Donald Trump, a Republican, pushes to make the U.S. a global hub for the cryptocurrency industry.
Sun and his companies did not admit or deny wrongdoing, the SEC said in a letter to U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos in Manhattan.
“I am pleased to confirm that the SEC has moved to dismiss all claims against me, Tron Foundation and BitTorrent Foundation,” Sun said in a statement posted on X. “Today’s resolution brings closure.”
An SEC spokesperson declined to comment.
The SEC sued Sun and his companies Tron Foundation, BitTorrent Foundation and Rainberry in March 2023, claiming they schemed to illegally distribute the crypto assets tronix and bittorrent, artificially inflate trading volume, and conceal payments to celebrity endorsers.
Sun, 35, was accused of illegally generating $31 million of proceeds by ordering employees to conduct hundreds of thousands of tronix trades between two accounts he controlled, creating a false and misleading sense of legitimate trading.
He was also accused of retaining celebrities like actress Lindsay Lohan, singers Akon and Ne-Yo, and social media personality Jake Paul to promote tronix and bittorrent on social media, while concealing they were paid for their efforts.
The case was brought during the tenure of Gary Gensler, who chaired the SEC under former Democratic President Joe Biden and drew much industry opposition for favoring greater cryptocurrency regulation.
In February 2025, following Trump’s return to the White House, the SEC put the case on hold to explore a possible resolution.
Sun has become perhaps the most prominent buyer of the World Liberty Financial crypto token, which Trump partially owns.
Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, criticized the deal. “The SEC should not be a lap dog for Trump’s billionaire buddies,” she said in a statement.
In a statement, White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said, “The President is and always has been motivated solely by what is best for the American people.”
World Liberty Financial did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York, additional reporting by Chris Prentice and Lawrence Delevingne, Editing by Franklin Paul, Anna Driver and Thomas Derpinghaus)
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