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SEC Gives Trump-Backed Crypto Bro a Break in Civil Fraud Case

Justin Sun invested $75 million in a crypto project backed by the Trump family.

A crypto bro who invested in a token backed by President Donald Trump is getting a break from the civil fraud charges filed against him by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Lawyers for the SEC and Justin Sun, a 34-year-old crypto entrepreneur, asked a federal judge last week to put the agency’s case on hold “to allow the parties to explore a potential resolution.” In 2022, the SEC charged Sun and his companies Tron, BitTorrent, and Rainberry with selling unregistered securities and manipulating the price of Tronix, a digital token. Sun invested $75 million in tokens from World Liberty Financial, a crypto project backed by the Trump family. The organization says it was “inspired by the vision of Donald J. Trump,” whom it called its “Chief Crypto Advocate.” It also identifies multiple members of the Trump family, including the president’s sons Eric and Barron, as Web3 ambassadors. “Donald J. Trump has been vocal about the risks posed by rising geopolitical tensions, the emergence of competing currencies, and the increasing push for central bank digital currencies,” World Liberty Financial states in a primer. “A new strategy, driven by stablecoins and supported by a decentralized approach, will help to safeguard the U.S. Dollar’s future as the global reserve currency.” Trump earlier pledged to make the U.S. the “Crypto Capital of the World.” The SEC declined to comment to CNN while the White House and Sun did not respond to a request for comment.