Fights: Justin Sun’s Proxy Lawsuits
Justin Sun? He’s no stranger to the courtroom. In fact, it seems like he’s been spending a fair bit of time navigating the legal world, initially more often as someone being sued, but lately, increasingly as the one bringing the suits.
Interestingly, a recurring theme in these legal battles is his involvement with companies he publicly says he doesn’t own. Despite the denials, his deep connections are hard to ignore.
First Digital hits back at Techteryx
One of the most recent legal dramas to capture public attention is the clash between Techteryx and First Digital Trust.
Techteryx, the company behind TrueUSD (TUSD), has filed a lawsuit accusing First Digital Trust of some serious financial maneuvering. They allege that First Digital Trust essentially dipped into the TUSD reserves and misused portions of them. Adding fuel to the fire, the suit also claims that significant chunks of those reserves were invested in a fund that’s now refusing to return the money when people try to redeem it.
Justin Sun, weighing in on the situation, suggests that First Digital Trust’s potential financial troubles are the real reason behind these denied redemptions.
Read more: First Digital defends FDUSD from Justin Sun’s attacks
First Digital Trust, the folks behind the FDUSD stablecoin, didn’t take these accusations lying down. They took to X (formerly Twitter) to vehemently assert that both they, as a company, and their FDUSD stablecoin are completely solvent and financially sound.
Going a step further, First Digital Trust is pushing back, implying that the real issue with TrueUSD’s redemption requests is Techteryx’s reluctance to reveal who actually owns them after a recent acquisition. They’re suggesting a lack of transparency is the problem, not solvency.
For years, whispers and rumors have linked Justin Sun to Techteryx and TrueUSD. However, both Techteryx, in public statements and to Protos directly, has consistently denied any ownership by Sun. Despite these denials, Sun’s involvement is undeniable. He’s been called an “Asia market advisor” for the company, described himself as a “partner market maker,” and even publicly offered to pump in $500 million in liquidity to the firm. It certainly raises eyebrows.
Sun, Huobi, and the $30M hole
The courtroom drama doesn’t stop there for Sun. He’s also locked in a dispute with Li Lin, the founder of Huobi (now known as HTX). At the heart of this disagreement is a pretty substantial question: was there a $30 million deficit hiding in Huobi’s accounts when it was sold to About Capital Management?
Li Lin is firmly denying these claims, explaining that this supposed “hole” was actually just a margin call that they considered recoverable. He argues that the exchange’s ongoing revenue had already taken care of this temporary dip.
Sun, however, is attempting to poke holes in Lin’s story by claiming that Li had previously indicated that this $30 million sum was meant to be returned to Sun himself. It’s a he-said, she-said situation with millions of dollars on the line.
Read more: Justin Sun and Huobi play shell game with ownership
This particular spat is just the latest chapter in a long-running feud between these two crypto entrepreneurs. Before this, Li Lin had actually filed a lawsuit claiming that About Capital Management (the company that bought Huobi) wasn’t entitled to even use the Huobi name. In that case, the court actually sided with Li.
HTX, like the other companies we’ve discussed, presents another example where both Sun and the exchange publicly deny his ownership. However, much like with the others, his significant involvement is clear, and tellingly, HTX’s reserves are heavily skewed towards his own crypto projects. The pattern continues.
Coinbase wants to know who owns BiT Global
Moving on to another legal front, BiT Global, a custodian that has become entangled in the operations of wrapped bitcoin (WBTC) and is known to be advised by Sun, is currently suing Coinbase. The reason? Coinbase decided to delist WBTC from their platform, and BiT Global isn’t happy about it.
The initial lawsuit from BiT Global argued that Coinbase was engaging in monopolistic behavior. Their logic was that by removing WBTC while simultaneously listing their own tokenized bitcoin product, cbBTC, Coinbase was unfairly pushing out the competition.
However, so far, the legal system hasn’t been convinced. The judge hasn’t been willing to force Coinbase to relist WBTC, suggesting BiT Global’s arguments haven’t quite landed.
Read more: How involved is Justin Sun with WBTC’s new custodian BiT Global?
Similar to ARIA in the First Digital suit asking for transparency, Coinbase has also pointed to a key issue: BiT Global’s reluctance to disclose who the actual ultimate beneficial owner of BiT Global is. This lack of transparency is becoming a recurring theme in these legal tangles.
Adding another layer of connection, one of BiT Global’s two directors is Jennifer Jiang. Intriguingly, Jiang is also an executive for Techteryx. Her connections don’t stop there. She’s been a director for TRON Network Limited, for Augustech LLC (a company established to provide services to Sun’s Poloniex exchange), for DTV Limited (linked to BitTorrent, another Sun-owned venture), and even previously owned Huobi Europe Technology LTD. It paints a picture of a tightly interwoven network of companies and individuals surrounding Justin Sun.
Sun gets seller’s remorse
In a slightly different turn, Sun has initiated a lawsuit against music industry giant David Geffen. The claim revolves around the “Le Nez” sculpture. Sun alleges that his former art advisor, Xiong Zihan Sydney, essentially pulled a fast one by forging Sun’s signature and misappropriating the sculpture in a sale to Geffen.
Geffen’s legal team has dismissed Sun’s lawsuit as simply “seller’s remorse.” They point out the pretty straightforward fact that Sun did receive two other pieces of art and over $10 million in cold hard cash from Geffen for this very sculpture. They’re suggesting Sun is now regretting the deal.
Sun counters by claiming that Xiong “confessed to the crime” after he inquired about the status of the sale. It’s a dramatic twist in this art world dispute.
Read more: Justin Sun complaint leads to CoinDesk removing banana article
And let’s not forget, while Sun is busy initiating lawsuits, he’s also still dealing with one himself. He remains a defendant in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit. This case was put on hold, or “stayed,” after he significantly invested in World Liberty Financial, a company with ties to Donald Trump. It adds another layer of complexity to his already busy legal calendar.
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