The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged the founder of the blockchain TRON, which the government of Dominica recently entered into an agreement with in what has been described as “the highest level of cooperation between such an enterprise and a sovereign state.”
On Wednesday this week, SEC unveiled charges against Justin Sun for fraud and securities violations.
In a press statement, the SEC said it was also charging three companies owned by Sun, “Tron Foundation Limited, BitTorrent Foundation Ltd., and Rainberry Inc. (formerly BitTorrent), for the unregistered offer and sale of crypto asset securities Tronix (TRX) and BitTorrent (BTT).”
“The SEC also charged Sun and his companies with fraudulently manipulating the secondary market for TRX through extensive wash trading, which involves the simultaneous or near-simultaneous purchase and sale of a security to make it appear actively traded without an actual change in beneficial ownership, and for orchestrating a scheme to pay celebrities to tout TRX and BTT without disclosing their compensation,” the statement said.
SEC’s charges were filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York this week and it alleged that Sun engaged in fraud by manipulating the trading activity of the two tokens, creating the appearance of active trading when it did not exist.
“Sun and his companies offered and sold TRX and BTT as investments through multiple unregistered “bounty programs,” which directed interested parties to promote the tokens on social media, join and recruit others to Tron-affiliated Telegram and Discord channels, and create BitTorrent accounts in exchange for TRX and BTT distributions,” the SEC statement said. “The complaint further alleges that Sun, BitTorrent Foundation, and Rainberry offered and sold BTT in unregistered monthly airdrops to investors, including in the United States, who purchased and held TRX in Tron wallets or on participating crypto asset trading platforms. According to the complaint, each of these unregistered offers and sales violated Section 5 of the Securities Act.”
The SEC also charged Sun, who was named Grenada’s ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO) last year, for paying eight celebrities and social media influencers to tout TRX and BTT without telling their fans and followers that they were being paid to do so and how much they were being compensated, as required.
Last year the government of Dominica announced that it had entered into an agreement with TRON following the passage of Virtual Asset Business legislation in May, 2022.
The government touted the move as “historic.”
“This is a historic step for Dominica in its drive to enhance economic growth by embracing digital innovation and appointing TRON Protocol as its designated national blockchain infrastructure,” it said in a press statement in October, 2022.
According to the statement TRON was given the permission to “issue Dominica Coin (“DMC”), a blockchain-based fan token to help promote Dominica’s global fanfare for its natural heritage and tourism attractions.”
“Dominica is committed to building a more inclusive and diversified economy with the help of new technologies. The open and cost-effective nature of the TRON blockchain infrastructure will play a vital role to better integrate Small Island Developing States like Dominica into the global economy in the future,” Prime Minister, Roosevelt Skerrit, said back then.
In a statement last year, TRON said its founder was “advancing the development of e-commerce and blockchain technology in the Caribbean regions, in hopes of boosting their engagement in the broader global economy.”
On social media, Sun himself boasted of the move saying “Dominica is the first country in the world to designate blockchain as their national infrastructure and it is #TRON.”
But in its statement, SEC Chair Gary Gensler said the case was an example of the potential risks crypto investors may face with unregistered securities.
“As alleged, Sun and his companies not only targeted U.S. investors in their unregistered offers and sales, generating millions in illegal proceeds at the expense of investors, but they also coordinated wash trading on an unregistered trading platform to create the misleading appearance of active trading in TRX,” he said. “Sun further induced investors to purchase TRX and BTT by orchestrating a promotional campaign in which he and his celebrity promoters hid the fact that the celebrities were paid for their tweets.”
Read the full statement from SEC on the matter below.
Ha ha bulls**t you lots are a waste of space and incompetence followers of wild dogs club jealousy is eating you all inside out all because Mr Skerrit, has the ability to make things happening a better Dominica international airport is coming, no one is going to stop it because of jealousy otherwise it will be Dog eat Dogs in Dominica, suckers and stupid blue monkeys determine to keep dominica backwards so stupid to think they could win a general election with that kind of attitude in the future, my life what the hell is in black people heads?
Chinese cannot keep a secret. So Mr. is going to spill all the beans. Black beans and white beans and other beans. Then the crooks are these Volehs will be placed in the stinky Bins.
The more Dominica’s story unfold under this political directorate, it solidifies a state that conducts its policy in a dangerously unpredictable way, disregarding international law or diplomacy.
In effect, a rouge society!
It would be good that if peoples are making comments about an article that they do proper research first and not just believe anything thats posted by news agencies. We all know the US is the biggest gangsters out there with their SHAM swift banking system printing money on a zero balance acc. We the people involved in the crypto market know to well that the crypto industry is the perfect replacement for the current slave banking system. The SEC was directly involved in a recent crack down of FTX an organization which was operating the same way any other bank is by using the fractional reserve lending method where they borrow and reborrow the same money over and over hence if everyone pulled out they go bankrupt. This is they case of every bank globally. It only took a tweet from CZ the owner of binance about the shady books of FTX to crash it completely now prompting other crypto currency exchanges to be more transparent by implementing proof of reserves systems
No, no, the biggest gangster out there is Skerrit and that Russian psychopath. Let’s get out stories right and research them properly.
You can say whatever you like Waituking but the U.S. $ is still the reserve currency of the world, even for the Chinese. You don’t have to like the Americans but this is a fact and yes of course, they print more money than they need themselves but we are all buying it because we need it and not flipping Dominica coin. I mean, go and try to buy groceries with that. Good luck.
….to the investors that all your money is present. TRON has a great track record and is NOT a scam i can assure you of that, and to prove that its true Tron is actually still doing well even after the news came out about the charges from the SEC. The SEC regulations on crypto is still very under developed and is being written in a way to cripple the crypto industry because its a direct threat to the swift banking system and tge whole banking system on a whole. Imagine sending millions accross the world at a cost of only 6us and takes 60 SECONDS to complete and can be done on a sunday…. Imagine that, totally impossible at any other bank. Thats besides the fact that the banks cant stop it or freeze your cash or sanction you for using such a money transfer system. Dominicas ties with Tron is a good one and i believe will play out good in the long run.
It would be good that if peoples are making comments about an article that they do proper research first and not just believe anything thats posted by news agencies. We all know the US is the biggest gangsters out there with their SHAM swift banking system printing money on a zero balance acc. We the people involved in the crypto market know to well that the crypto industry is the perfect replacement for the current slave banking system. The SEC was directly involved in a recent crack down of FTX an organization which was operating the same way any other bank is by using the fractional reserve lending method where they borrow and reborrow the same money over and over hence if everyone pulled out they go bankrupt. This is they case of every bank globally. It only took a tweet from CZ the owner of binance about the shady books of FTX to crash it completely now prompting other crypto currency exchanges to be more transparent by implementing proof of reserves systems to show to the…
All of these fraudsters are getting very fertile soil in Dominica. Gason Dominica is now known to the world as The Den of Thieves, thanks to pM Skerrit. That Roosevelt Skerrit and Mano Nanthan have so many things in common man
Its time to give back the Kalinago their island and lets all go back to Africa. We can’t manage and we are all clueless.
It means that Euro centered money system just doesn’t work, but we don’t all have to go back since some of us were already here.
Go on little boys and girls have your say in fact it wont have no bearing on Pm Skerrit, life in a matter of fact you lots are an inferior rank second- class citizens of a lower league
Get out of here!!!!
If you can’t improve the silence, don’t open your mouth. Raw sewage as usual coming from an old man with a mental age of a kindergarten student.
When I read the government was involving themselves with Sun I thought, did anyone do their research into this guy? The guy has a very shady reputation in the crypto space, from litecoin to tron to btt. What the hell were they thinking?
“What the hell were they thinking?” Is that just a rhetorical question? LYING Roosevelt and his servile ducklings don’t think once money is dangled in front of them. Proof: Look at all the international money scandals that these unscrupulous money hoarders have been caught up in.
How much money is involved, did government lose money? Before government entered into this agreement it appears that no proper due diligence was done. I wonder what caused the various bank failures across America an Europe recently, these countries are awash with regulatory bodies yet suitable continues to happen. It looks as if Dominica is a victim in this scam.
Foul-mouthed Brown Paper bag and the Lying Dunce Roosevelt, get entrapped in the crypto mania scandals.
Instead of these two bandits use money and love people, they do the reverse. They love p money and use people.
Roosevelt Skerrit has Dominica connected to all kinds of dirty, fraudulent and money laundering schemes around the world, from Asia, to Africa, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, the Uk, the EU, the Caribbean and every damn country in the world. I don’t see why they even paying advertisers to advertise Dominica as a tourism island when Roosevelt is giving us FREE promotion with his connections to known fraudulent people. Man I am a labor you know though I stop voting since 2019 but truth is to save Dominica we all must come together to get rid of this cancerous monster before he makes his way to the presidency to hide from prosecution. In fact to save Dominica we need to bring everything to a halt for at least three days and take this man to the US so they could deal with him for us and that we MUST do before October when he plans to steal the presidency
You can’t plant yams and expect tomatoes. Neither can you put a well know shady character in office and expect honesty.
Yes you can especially when your birth name is somebody else and you have Ibo France written on DNO.
Reading though these comments shows a lack of understanding of crypto/blockchain technology and the recent US SEC attack on it.
Tron’s lawsuit is not a singular event as Coinbase, the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in the US, was also issued a lawsuit on the very same day against Justin and Tron.
The SEC went after Ripple(XRP) ,Kraken exchange, library coin and more. The real scam was FTX but who am I to say that when SBF met monthly with US lawmakers and Gary the head of the SEC.
This is a final attempt to help save the banking system – the biggest legal Ponzi scheme. Crypto allows real time movement of value. If the same system was to be applied to the banking system it would collapse like SVB bank, signature bank and all the midsize US Banks. Dominica is not at fault here as Tron is just a company like many others registered in Dominica and throughout the world.
Sadly the friends of Dominica now a days are all thieves, money launderers and fraudsters. Gason my mama always use to tell me to show her my friends so she could tell me who I am. PM are you one of the birds with similar feathers? You better start to number your days
Boy see what Skerrit did to my country. The man was young and handsome so we gave him a chance to lead us. But is our fault you know because we all knew the man attended the funeral of both Rosie Douglas and Pierre Charles. Now see what the man did to our country.
One thing everyone around Alibaba is being picked up while Alibaba continues its remain at large . You go to Iran and his best friend Lireza Monfared is spending 20 yrs for fraud, money laundering and other crimes. Then go to China his friend NG Lapseng served his time. But look his new friend from China is charged with that same disease. Go to the BVI and find another friend Andrew Fahie is in Miami jail probably waiting on Mr Alibaba. Go to Columbia/ Venezuela and his friend Alex Saab is US custody and is vomiting everything he knows on Alibaba. You come to the US and his friend Trump has said he expects to be arrested. The list of fraudsters and money launderers is too long so I will stop there. But Mr Alibaba you trying to play big with your mouth but you poopooing in your pants because you know it’s now a matter of when you will be picked up. Your friends in Dominica are no different because all of them poopooing on them. Their pants smelling kaka
Skerrit little schemes passing right through our system but it have somebody out there with a big stick …….no matter who Skerrit hire he always getting egg on his face………but de boy have no shame
Skerrit associates always get caught by de law………..and Skerrit will never ever mention their names
Someone sent me this song: “My boy lollipop, you make me feel so CRYPTO-UP, U change my currency, my boy lollipop.” That’s a Roadmatch. The love of money is full of Evil.
A man is known by the company he keeps. Roosevelt hangs out with international embezzlers, swindlers, bandits, plunderers and snipers.
” A man is known by the company he keeps ” you should be ashamed of yourself coming up with such words, how about Ugly Lenny, and his so-called political con tricks how about you supporting that ridiculous corrupt Rottweilers, always think before you start insulting and critical attacks on others you know nothing about
Ahh,.. no biggie, only SEC feelings were hurt someone didn’t obey. New ground but sounds like he was scheming tho, it’s the mo money system, slap on the wrist, he pays. I do hope Grenada and Dominica fare out well in the end.
Don’t bother trying to explain the nuance man. Majority of dominicans don’t understand finance or technology. You can’t expect exactly what’s going on here. Besides most people commenting here are just anti-government so this is just another excuse to bash the government.
I personally never liked the Tron agreement to begin with just because Justin Sun is such a notorious character in the crypto world but the SEC is worse IMO, especially with that crook Gary Gensler. They wasted time trying to charge LBRY for issuing unregistered securities meanwhile they were giving FTX a pass. Only to find out later that Sam Bankman-Fried and his cronies have ties to Gensler and other government officials. This is just one corrupt organisation trying to prevent people from exiting their own ponzi scheme which is fiat currency.
You could not have said any better. Just another story to bash Skerrit. They don’t even have a smattering of Finance and Technology and Financial Instruments but hear them. I wish Skerrit would call another snap election in April and let us see the outcome. These blue jacket scoundrels would be now singing for their supper.
Crooks finding Crooks!!!!…..Should be the Heading.
Why is our GOVT so often finding itself entangled in these nefarious activities.
The government drank Justin Sun’s koolaid that is why they rush to make it LEGAL TENDER in Dominica, why they don’t make bitcoin legal tender is beyond me, no one entity controls bitcoin btw
I have made a lot of $$$$ trading with BITCOIN.
It’s the best!
Why is it when your so-called useless workers incompetent group get involved with shady characters none of you talk about it, is it because you lots feels ashamed or a bunch of disgusting lay about hypocrites. Mr Skerrit, is not perfect no one is but always on the look out for a better Dominica that is more than any blue monkeys can say.
I know DNO might not publish my post as usual that is their bacon.
Roosevelt hit Dominica with one more blow below the belt. The habitual LIAR doesn’t play fair.
It’s one black-eye for Dominica after another on the international scene. When you put a corrupt CLOWN in the apex position of government these scandals are inevitable.
Remember this is a scandal-plagued administration that is nocturnal in nature ( It operates in complete darkness).
Sun and Moon and Stars. Dominica has many falling Stars and de police refuses to pick them up.
Isn’t Justin Sun a Dominican? Maybe be a Diplomat. We’ll see. These are the types of stories I Lovvvvvveeee to read about.
Does the government understand crypto currency to the extent that they make such a commitment?
Oh dear! Will that impact the construction of our international airport?
As long as Skerrit pays the constructors with his Dominica Coin money we should be O.K. ,so keep your eyes peeled and your ears free of wax, bird of prey.
M Boyd Never Lies
Aiiiii Dominique!!!! I remember couple months ago PM had made a big announcement! i said hmm!!!! look now today. I believe Dominica needs to master its old industries before trying to get in bed with strange people to adopt new ones. Agro processing is suffering and that is a major cash cow that again we are missing out on. But no, the vast majority of us dont even understand crypto but you want to invest in that. Look where your partner is now. And again we in the spotlight negatively. Soon we will be the most controversial island in the Caribbean. No one will want to touch us for the right reasons.
I am seriously concerned about the long-term viability of our own indigenous bank NBD. As far as I know it is a stand-alone operation without the support of an international network. Moreover, it is ultimately controlled by Roosevelt Skerrit through a combined shareholding of more than 50%, through our Social Security and government direct. All this makes it very vulnerable and I wonder if it has enough liquidity should there be a rush of withdrawals prompted by unsound investments. Remember, a bank can go bankrupt like any other business. I understand there are no legal obligations in place to safeguard the bank’s client deposits in Dominica.
Why is it your ideological and political partisan beliefs drives you to make such ignorant statements regarding. Is The NDB ultimately controlled by Roosevelt Skerrit, wow. What do you know about international banking to suggest the nonsense dome and gloom you have written. What the above story has to do with The NDB. Your understanding of something does not make it so, wallow in your silly pathetic ignorance.
Pipo, There are others that share your concern.
A dominican friend of mine told me that he had lost confidence in all banks and was converting his savings into metal. When I said that surely gold bars kept at home are all the more risky, he assured me that his savings were not in gold bars but in dollar coins kept in 55 gallon oil drums.
Not all that blinks is gold, more often than not it is fools gold. I hope our treasury is not impacted and wait to hear assurances from our government that our country’s finances are safe.
The country’s finances are in certain people’s pockets. As long as certain people are in place the country’s finances will forever be in jeopardy. We have seen the close of most of our banks in recent years, gas stations have threatened to close repeatedly, businesses have shut down, all you seeing is vendors struggling to make ends meet. The streets of Roseau are not filled with commerce like before. Finances safe? I dont know who fooling all you. Cost of living rising exponentially, jobs are less and salaries are still slim. Bus fare gone up. Our finances are not safe. Hotel after hotel being built, but production of exportable goods cannot increase. Meanwhile we are being distracted with festivities and parties and good time like how Roman emperors did to their people to distract them from dismal times.
Any excuses this racketeering government make should be taken as a grain of salt. They have been so deceitful and dishonest. There is almost ever any truth in their utterances
Why is this administration getting so entangled with all these shady characters? Is it a case of show me your friends and I will tell you who you are?
It’s because our country is now like a prostitute waiting at the side of the road. Anybody can come as long as they have enough money…. And Skerro is the pimp.
And you are the jiggalo.
Dominica is a magnet for the most corrupt bigwigs around the world. It’s like a safe harbour for boats in peril from turbulent seas.
Safe harbour? More like crossing the Styx into Hades me thinks.