SEC strengthens lawsuit against Justin Sun

SEC's lawsuit against Justin Sun might become stronger due to his extensive travel to the U.S.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) monitors many people and companies in the industry. The commission has already taken down various entities. Recently, it updated its legal complaint against Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, and other related parties.

It is believed that these findings might strengthen their lawsuit against the cryptocurrency industry mogul. The update was filed to confirm that the SEC has the right to handle this case in the U.S.

The SEC says that Justin Sun came to the U.S. many times, especially between 2017 and 2019. He spent over 380 days visiting big cities like New York City, Boston, and San Francisco. These trips were for business related to the Tron Foundation and BitTorrent Foundation, which are also part of the lawsuit.

The SEC argues that because Justin Sun and his companies were very active in the U.S., the SEC should be able to take legal action against them in the U.S. courts. The SEC's complaint points out that Sun and his companies sold Tron and BitTorrent tokens without proper registration, which is required by U.S. law^[1].

The SEC claims that J. Sun was involved in misleading trading activities

The SEC also stated that Justin Sun has been involved in other activities that revolve around misleading trading. This legal update comes after Justin Sun tried to get the lawsuit dismissed last month. He argued that the SEC doesn't have the right to sue him or the Tron Foundation because they are based in Singapore.

The case is currently being handled by a federal court in Manhattan. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Justin Sun with promoting and selling digital tokens like TRX and BTT in the U.S.

The SEC claims that Sun and his companies were involved in a scheme to make repeated and coordinated trades to artificially influence the token prices, known as wash trading, on the now-closed cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex. In its earlier complaint, the SEC mentioned similar wash trading activities but did not name the specific platform involved.

Now, the SEC has identified Bittrex, a U.S.-based exchange, as the location of these activities, which strengthens its case for having jurisdiction over Sun and the other defendants. The updated legal complaint also states that Sun personally interacted with Bittrex around 2018 to get TRX listed on the exchange.

He provided documents and signed them himself, linking him directly to the activities of his companies. The SEC points out that Sun promoted and sold these tokens directly to people in the United States, citing his frequent visits to the U.S. as part of their argument that they have the legal right to pursue action against him.

SEC’s latest filing challenges Sun’s claims about his substantial presence in the United States

In a strong rebuttal, Sun had earlier attempted to have the lawsuit thrown out, arguing that the SEC has no authority over him or the Singapore-based Tron Foundation. He contended that the activities in question were mostly conducted outside the U.S., and he took steps to avoid involving U.S. markets^[2].

His lawyers also mentioned that the SEC's claims did not specify that the tokens were initially offered or sold to U.S. residents. However, the SEC’s revised complaint addresses these issues by highlighting Sun's extensive travel to the U.S. and his direct involvement in promoting and selling the tokens to U.S. investors.

The complaint aims to prove a direct connection between Sun's activities and the U.S., thus justifying the SEC’s jurisdiction. This legal dispute continues to unfold, with significant implications for Sun and the wider cryptocurrency world, especially concerning how regulatory laws are applied to international activities in the digital asset space.

Latest lawsuit: Ripple vs SEC

The SEC has scored big wins against public figures, cryptocurrency investors, and companies like exchanges. One of the biggest ones was the crypto exchange Coinbase. The Securities and Exchange Commission scored a major win in the lawsuit a few months back^[3].

Now, the SEC's case against Ripple moves forward. Ripple's Chief Legal Officer touched upon the recent rumors of a settlement, outlining key court dates set for this month and next month. The SEC seeks $2 billion from Ripple Labs^[4].

The US SEC seeks fines and penalties, in this case, for sales of the cryptocurrency XRP. In July, it was ruled that the SEC could ask for penalties. The sealed documents should show that the blockchain company's sale of XRP worth $728.9 million to hedge funds and other sophisticated buyers amounted to unlawful sales of unregistered securities.