“His Excellency” No More: Justin Sun Loses Diplomatic Status $TRO

The founder of the Tron blockchain, Justin Sun, is no longer a diplomat for Grenada. Grenada had recalled all diplomats following the June 2022 election in which the part that granted the title was removed from power. No Longer A Diplomat For Grenada According to reports coming from the Grenada Broadcasting Network, Sun’s removal as a diplomat came after the New National Party, which was the part that gave Sun the status, lost the election to the National Democratic Congress. The report stated that all ambassadors assigned by the previous government were recalled during the early months of the new administration. The report from the Grenada Broadcasting Network comes after weeks of intense speculation in the press and social media about Sun losing his credentials. However, Sun has not yet publicly addressed the speculation. Sun Carries On Justin Sun was appointed as the ambassador to the World Trade Organization by the government of Grenada in 2021. Since being appointed, Sun has gone out of his way to flout his credentials, styling himself as “His Excellency” on his social media accounts and during media interviews. Sun had been tweeting from his diplomatic Twitter account (@HEjustinsun) as recently as October. He has, so far, given no indication of losing his diplomatic status and still maintains the H.E. on his personal Twitter account. With Sun’s appointment as Grenada’s ambassador to the WTO, the government of Grenada stated that it expected him to help promote trade, development opportunities, and investment in the country. He was also tasked with supporting the development of infrastructure, human resources, and information and communication technology for the country and conduct himself in a way that enhances Grenada’s image. Neither Sun nor the government of Grenada have commented on the matter so far. SEC Charges Sun Soon after losing his diplomatic status, the Tron founder found himself in the crosshairs of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC charged Sun with fraud and also accused eight celebrities, including rapper Soulja Boy and actress Lindsay Lohan, of illegally promoting his crypto assets. Sun, along with his companies, the BitTorrent Foundation, Tron Foundation, and Rainberry, were accused of scheming to distribute billions of Tronix (TRX) and BitTorrent (BTT) tokens and artificially inflate their trading volume since 2017. In a statement, the SEC Chair, Gary Gensler stated,  “As alleged in the complaint, Sun and others used an age-old playbook to mislead and harm investors by first offering securities without complying with registration and disclosure requirements and then manipulating the market for those very securities. At the same time, Sun paid celebrities with millions of social media followers to tout the unregistered offerings, while specifically directing that they not disclose their compensation. This is the very conduct that the federal securities laws were designed to protect against regardless of the labels Sun and others used.” The Securities and Exchange Commission stated that some of those accused with Sun have agreed to pay a total of $400,000 in disgorgement, interest, and penalties to settle charges leveled against them. Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.