tron TRX
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Founder Justin Sun “traveled extensively,” spending more than 380 days in the U.S. from 2017 to 2019 while certain tokens were being promoted and sold, the Securities and Exchange Commission said in an updated complaint.
During that time, Sun spent time in several American cities, including New York, Boston, and San Francisco. The agency said Rainberry, the name given by Sun when it acquired BitTorrent in 2018, rented the apartment where the cryptocurrency entrepreneur stayed while on a business trip in 2019.
“The Court has personal jurisdiction over Defendants because Defendants knowingly took action against the United States through the conduct asserted herein,” the SEC said in the updated filing. document Submitted on Thursday.
SEC March 2023 charged Sun and his three companies — Tron Foundation Limited, BitTorrent Foundation Ltd. and Rainberry Inc. — Accused of offering and selling Tronix and BitTorrent as investment targets “Through several unregistered ‘bounty programs.’” These cryptocurrencies are also used as TRX and BTT. The SEC also alleged that Sun directed wash trading of TRX.
The SEC has charged several celebrities, including actress Lindsay Lohan and journalist Jake Paul, with “unlawfully promoting” TRX and BTT without disclosing that they were paid last year. Lohan and Paul agreed to settle the charges without admitting or denying the SEC’s findings. Singers Austin Mahone, also known as Soulja Boy, and DeAndre Cortez Way are still named in the amended complaint.
blur the lines
The SEC added in its amended complaint that Sun “blurred the distinction” between his three companies. During his public appearance in San Francisco, Sun promoted the Tron ecosystem, TRX, and BTT while also displaying the Tron logo, Tron name, and BitTorrent name.
“Based on Sun’s actions and statements, a rational investor considering whether to buy or sell TRX or BTT would see Sun as the face of the Tron ecosystem, TRX and BTT, with little meaningful distinction between the Tron Foundation and BitTorrent. Foundation and Rainberry,” the SEC said. “With respect to all of the conduct alleged herein, Sun acted either intentionally or recklessly.”
Sun’s lawyers filed the following motion: fire The original complaint last month argued that the SEC is not a “global regulatory body.”
“Efforts to take advantage of very weak contacts with the United States and expand U.S. securities laws to cover primarily foreign conduct go too far and should be rejected,” the lawyers said.
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