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- SEC drops Justin Sun charges while Rainberry accepts $10 million penalty
- Court filing ends major crypto lawsuit tied to Tron ecosystem
- Settlement highlights shifting crypto enforcement stance under Trump administration
The legal case between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Tron founder Justin Sun has reached a key turning point. According to court records, regulators have dismissed their claims against Sun and two organisations involved in the Tron ecosystem. Nevertheless, a related company was willing to pay a financial penalty in the settlement process.
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Court Filing Confirms Settlement Terms
The development was affirmed by a final judgment submitted to the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York. In the filing, the SEC has abandoned its charges against Sun, the Tron Foundation, and the BitTorrent Foundation. At the same time, Rainberry, which used to be called BitTorrent Inc., paid a $10 million civil penalty in order to dismiss the case.
Rainberry was the core of BitTorrent ecosystem, they were acquired by Sun in 2018. The company also assisted in the creation of BTT token and the development of the Tron network. Other than the payment of penalty, Rainberry undertook not to participate in deceptive securities market practices. The company agreed to the settlement conditions with no confession or defiance of the charges.
Sun reacted to the result in comments on an interview with The Block. The rejection of the claims leads to the resolution of the legal conflict as Sun says. He said that development work had continued throughout the Tron ecosystem even as the proceedings were going on. In addition, he showed interest in collaborating with regulators to enhance the regulations of digital assets in the future.
Crypto Enforcement Environment Continues to Shift
The lawsuit was first filed by the SEC in 2023, with regulators claiming that Sun and associated companies engaged in unregistered securities sales of TRX and BTT tokens. Moreover, the complaint stated that Sun was involved into wash trading in order to manipulate the price of TRX.
Authorities also looked at the celebrity endorsements that were related to the tokens. Some of the prominent individuals who were allegedly promoting TRX and BTT were paid money that was not disclosed. Later on six celebrities accepted to pay the fines and pay a total of approximately $400,000 in fines and interest.
Notably, the resolution is reached in the context of a larger change in crypto enforcement throughout the United States. The SEC has dismissed some cases related to large crypto companies since Donald Trump came to the office of the current president. Even after the settlement is made, the court still has to authorize the final judgment.
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