SEC sues Tron founder Justin Sun, Lindsay Lohan, other celebrities over crypto sales
- The charges come as part of a case targeting entrepreneur Sun for marketing Tronix and BitTorrent cryptocurrency assets without registering with the relevant authorities
- Eight celebrities, including actress Lindsay Lohan and rapper Soulja Boy, were charged with illegally promoting Sun’s cryptocurrency assets
Sun and his companies Tron Foundation, BitTorrent Foundation and Rainberry were accused of having since August 2017 schemed to distribute billions of crypto assets known as Tronix (TRX) and BitTorrent (BTT) and artificially inflated trading volume.
He was also accused of concealing payment to celebrities to promote TRX and BTT on social media accounts, misleading the public into thinking they had “unbiased interest in TRX and BTT, and were not merely paid spokespersons”.
The SEC said Sun’s activity generated tens of millions of dollars of illegal profit at other investors’ expense.
“This case demonstrates again the high risk investors face when crypto asset securities are offered and sold without proper disclosure,” SEC Chair Gary Gensler said in a statement.
Sun did not immediately respond to a request for comment via Twitter. A lawyer for Sun could not immediately be identified.