The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has updated its lawsuit against Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, enhancing its jurisdictional claim over him due to his extensive travels in the United States.
In a revised filing on April 17, the SEC submitted to a Manhattan federal court that Sun, Tron, and two other associated entities are within its reach because they deliberately engaged in activities aimed at the U.S. market.
Justin Sun reportedly spent more than 380 days in the U.S. from 2017 to 2019, traveling to major cities such as New York City, Boston, and San Francisco.
These trips, according to the SEC, were made in his capacity as a representative of the Tron Foundation, the BitTorrent Foundation, and Rainberry, which the lawsuit describes as Sun’s “alter ego” organizations.
The SEC’s amended complaint also reiterated its previous allegations that Sun and his companies had issued unregistered securities through Tron and BitTorrent (BTT) tokens and accused him of partaking in “manipulative wash trading.”
These illicit activities are said to have occurred in part during Sun’s visits to the U.S., correlating his presence with promotional activities for TRX and BTT tokens in the country.
Moreover, the SEC alleges that the TRX token wash trades occurred on Bittrex, a crypto exchange based in Seattle, establishing another link to U.S. jurisdiction.
In a counter move, Sun, born in China and a citizen of Grenada, sought to dismiss the charges in late March.
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He argued that the SEC was improperly applying U.S. securities laws to actions predominantly conducted abroad and maintained that the agency had no jurisdiction over him or the Singapore-based Tron Foundation.
Sun contended that the TRX and BTT tokens were entirely sold overseas, with measures taken to specifically bypass the U.S. market, and he highlighted that the SEC did not claim the tokens were initially offered or sold to U.S. residents.
As of the latest updates, Sun’s legal representatives have not provided comments on the ongoing case.
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