{"id":24380,"date":"2023-03-23T16:10:35","date_gmt":"2023-03-23T23:10:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coinnetworknews.com\/asia-express-cointelegraph-magazine-5\/"},"modified":"2023-03-23T16:10:35","modified_gmt":"2023-03-23T23:10:35","slug":"asia-express-cointelegraph-magazine-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coinnetworknews.com\/asia-express-cointelegraph-magazine-5\/","title":{"rendered":"Asia Express \u2013 Cointelegraph Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Our weekly roundup of news from East Asia curates the industry\u2019s most important developments.<\/em><\/p>\n

Chinese crypto billionaire\u00a0sued by SEC<\/h2>\n

On Mar. 22, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, announced<\/a> charges against Chinese blockchain personality and billionaire Sun Yuchen \u2014 better known as Justin Sun \u2014 and three of his wholly-owned companies Tron Foundation Limited, BitTorrent Foundation Ltd., and Rainberry Inc. (formerly known as BitTorrent).<\/p>\n

The complaint alleges that Sun and his companies \u201cfraudulently\u201d manipulated the secondary market for Tron (TRX) tokens through \u201cextensive wash trading\u201d, citing more than 600,000 such trades, and paying celebrities to promote TRX and BitTorrent (BTT) tokens with zero disclosure.<\/p>\n

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The SEC\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u2014 H.E. Justin Sun \u5b59\u5b87\u6668 (@justinsuntron) March 23, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Multiple prominent American celebrities, such as Lindsay Lohan and Jake Paul, were named as defendants in their alleged roles in promoting TRX and BTT without proper disclosure. Some have since settled with the SEC. In addition, the SEC alleges that bounty programs and airdrops used to promote TRX and BTT were unregistered investments. Gary Gensler, chairman of the SEC, commented:<\/p>\n

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\u201cAs alleged, Sun and his companies not only targeted U.S. investors in their unregistered offers and sales, generating millions in illegal proceeds at the expense of investors, but they also coordinated wash trading on an unregistered trading platform to create the misleading appearance of active trading in TRX.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Justin Sun is an active figure in the crypto industry who rose to prominence via the $70 million initial coin offering (ICO) of Tron in 2017. The ICO was reportedly conducted one day prior to the Chinese government\u2019s announcement of a blanket ban on all ICOs within the country. Sun, who allegedly left Beijing shortly after and moved to San Francisco, used his newfound wealth from the successful Tron ICO to acquire the peer-to-peer downloading platform BitTorrent.<\/p>\n

Sunreportedly<\/a>laid low while in the U.S. and presented himself as an honest businessman fleeing from the spectres of communism. U.S. authorities have heard this sort of rhetoric before however and on Mar. 15, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it had arrested Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui over his role in an alleged $1 billion stock and crypto fraud scheme. Just days before his arrest, Guoshilled to his viewers<\/a>the importance of his crypto exchange, blockchain technology, and tokens he had created in the fight against communism.<\/p>\n

The interest from U.S. authorities may have been behind Sun\u2019s decision to move out of the U.S. in 2020 into the sunny Caribbean island of Grenada. He has since become the country\u2019s ambassador to the World Trade Organization. Aside from foreign relations duties and the bestowment of the fancy title \u201cHis Excellency,\u201d the role grants Sun a diplomatic passport that theoretically provides immunity against prosecution.<\/p>\n

Despite the controversies, Sun appears to be doing quite well in his new home. Last November, Sun reportedly acquired 100% of co-founders\u2019 stakes in cryptocurrency exchange Huobi Global even though he publicly claims he is just a humble \u201cadvisor\u201d in Huobi\u2019s everyday affairs. <\/p>\n

In January, Asia Express reported that many Huobi employees\u2019 benefits were allegedly axed<\/a> via direct orders from Sun. In other areas, cryptocurrency exchange Binance has also significantly limited<\/a> its utilization of Tron Tether (TRC-20 USDT) after regulatory backlash on its own stablecoin Binance USD.<\/p>\n

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