The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reached a settlement with Tron founder Justin Sun and associated entities, concluding a major lawsuit filed in 2023. According to a court filing, the settlement requires Rainberry Inc., a company linked to the Tron network, to pay a $10 million fine and bars it from future violations of securities regulations.
The SEC's original lawsuit alleged that Sun and the Tron Foundation violated federal securities laws through the unregistered sale and airdropping of Tron (TRX) and BitTorrent (BTT) tokens between 2017 and 2019. The agency also accused them of orchestrating an "extensive wash trading" scheme to manipulate the secondary market for TRX.
The proposed settlement dismisses all remaining claims "with prejudice" against Rainberry, Justin Sun, the Tron Foundation, and the BitTorrent Foundation, meaning the SEC cannot bring a similar case for the same conduct in the future. The settlement has been approved by the Commission but still awaits final approval from a federal judge.
This resolution marks the end of a pivotal case that was part of a broader regulatory crackdown on crypto firms under former SEC Chair Gary Gensler. The case was paused last year alongside other SEC actions against crypto companies, following leadership changes at the agency after the 2024 election. The commission is now chaired by Paul Atkins.
