SEC drops charges against Tron founder Justin Sun in 2023 case

Key points:

• The SEC has dropped the main charges filed in 2023 against Tron founder Justin Sun and several organizations linked to him.
• Rainberry, a company connected to Sun and the BitTorrent project, agreed to pay a $10 million civil penalty to the regulator.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has dropped the charges it filed in 2023 against Tron founder Justin Sun, as well as the Tron Foundation and BitTorrent Foundation. The decision was issued by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

At the same time, one of Sun’s affiliated companies, Rainberry (formerly BitTorrent Inc.), agreed to pay a $10 million civil fine. The company is known for developing the BitTorrent protocol and the BTT token, which was launched after Sun acquired the project.

Originally, the SEC accused Sun and three related entities of conducting unregistered securities sales, including the TRX and BTT tokens. The regulator also alleged that Sun manipulated the price of TRX through wash trading and paid celebrities to promote the tokens without disclosing that they were compensated.

The Celebrity Promotion Controversy

As part of the investigation, the SEC also brought claims against eight celebrities, including actress Lindsay Lohan and influencer Jake Paul. According to the regulator, they promoted TRX and BTT tokens without revealing that they had been paid for the endorsements.

Six of the celebrities later agreed to settle the case, paying a combined $400,000 in disgorgement, interest, and penalties without admitting wrongdoing. Musicians Soulja Boy and Austin Mahone were the only ones who did not initially join the settlement.

SEC v. Ripple case regarding the status of the XRP token has been officially dismissed

Earlier, the court ruled that institutional sales of the asset violated securities law

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According to court filings, Sun’s representatives reached a settlement agreement with the SEC. The parties accepted the regulator’s terms without admitting or denying the allegations. In addition to the fine, Rainberry agreed not to engage in manipulative market practices in the future. The settlement still requires final approval from the court.

It is worth noting that since Donald Trump took office, the SEC has gradually scaled back several high-profile cases against crypto companies. The regulator has already dropped lawsuits against major industry players such as Binance, Coinbase, and Uniswap. In February 2025, the agency also requested a pause in the Tron case to explore a possible settlement.

At the same time, Justin Sun has invested heavily in crypto projects associated with the Trump family. According to media reports, he purchased at least $75 million worth of WLFI tokens from the World Liberty Financial project and bought about $100 million worth of the TRUMP memecoin, which was launched shortly before the presidential inauguration.