Crypto billionaire and entrepreneur Justin Sun was one of the high profile attendees of lavish dinner hosted by US president Donald Trump on Thursday to felicitate top 220 holders of his Memecoin.
Top 25 holders were invited to a special before-dinner reception with the president and also chosen as “eligible” for a tour of the White House.
Who is Justin Sun?
Justin Sun, the China-born founder of the Tron blockchain, participated in the dinner while he is fighting a market manipulation case in the US. As Trump left the event, Justin Sun was introduced as a speaker by Bill Zanker, who helped organise the dinner.
The billionaire, now holding the citizenship of Saint Kitts and Nevis, claims to be one of the top holder of Trump's Memecoin. He is known for purchasing an art piece with a banana taped to a wall for $6.2 million and eating the fruit later.
The controversial billionaire was sued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission in 2023 for allegedly manipulating markets by offering the sale of unregistered securities through companies he owns and controls – the Tron Foundation, BitTorrent Foundation Ltd., and Rainberry Inc. He also paid celebrities for undisclosed promotions.
{{/usCountry}}The controversial billionaire was sued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission in 2023 for allegedly manipulating markets by offering the sale of unregistered securities through companies he owns and controls – the Tron Foundation, BitTorrent Foundation Ltd., and Rainberry Inc. He also paid celebrities for undisclosed promotions.
{{/usCountry}}The crypto billionaire has also invested a total of $75 million in WLFI, the token of World Liberty Financial, another crypto project linked to Trump and his family members. As an adviser to the project, his early investment is believed to have helped Trump start the project.
At the dinner,Sun called for the crypto industry to back Trump and his initiatives. He had expressed great enthusiasm in attending Trump's dinner and thanked the Republican for his “unwavering support” to the industry.
SEC to pause case against Justin Sun?
Amid Sun's camaraderie with Trump, the US SEC is looking to pause the case after former chairman Gary Gensler left the agency, reported Bloomberg. The move is one of the noteworthy legal developments after Trump assumed power for a second term on January 20.
Trump's dinner gala was slammed by Democrats as Senators Elizabeth Warren and Adam Schiff demanded a federal ethics investigation. They called the event a “pay to play” scheme of “corruption and foreign influence,” as many holders of Trump's Memecoin are believed to be from outside the US.
The White House has defended the event saying Trump was attending the event in his “personal time” outside official duties. The administration also claimed that it has nothing to do with Trump's Memecoin.