SEC v. Justin Sun et al. (paid stock promotion, 2023)
Settled
Checked against the primary document on October 4, 2026. The library's summary, tags and figures for this record were compared with the regulator's own document by an AI model (Claude) following written instructions, with sampled and disputed records read a second time. No lawyer has reviewed them. A checked record can still contain errors, and checked does not mean endorsed. See how we check records or report a correction.
In March 2023 the SEC charged Justin Sun and his companies with unregistered offers of TRX and BTT tokens and with wash trading TRX, and charged eight celebrities for touting the tokens. On March 5, 2026 the SEC filed a proposed global resolution: Rainberry would pay a $10 million penalty on the wash-trading claim, subject to court approval, and all other claims against the Tron defendants would be dismissed.
The record
| Agency | SEC |
|---|---|
| Release number | LR-25676 |
| Date filed | 2023-03-24 |
| Date resolved | 2026-03-05 |
| Court | U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York |
| Status | settled |
| Asset class | crypto |
| Criminal parallel | No |
| Defendants | Justin Sun ; Tron Foundation Limited ; BitTorrent Foundation Ltd. ; Rainberry Inc. |
| Cited as charged or alleged | Exchange Act s.10(b) and Rule 10b-5 ; Exchange Act s.9(a)(1) ; Exchange Act s.9(a)(2) ; Securities Act s.17(a) ; Securities Act s.17(b) ; Securities Act s.5 |
| Techniques | Paid stock promotion , Unregistered distributions , Wash trading |
What was ordered
- Civil penalty
- $10m
- Disgorgement
- —
- Prejudgment interest
- —
- Total relief
- $10m
- Alleged gain
- —
What is alleged to have happened
On March 24, 2023 the SEC announced a complaint filed March 22 in the Southern District of New York against Justin Sun, Tron Foundation Limited, BitTorrent Foundation Ltd. and Rainberry Inc., alleging the unregistered offer and sale of TRX and BTT tokens through bounty programs that rewarded social media promotion, and manipulation of the secondary market for TRX through wash trading. Eight celebrities were charged separately for touting the tokens. The record previously showed the defendants as 'Justin Sun et al.'.
This library tags the matter as paid stock promotion and unregistered distributions and wash trading, based on the conduct the document describes. The tagging is ours, not the regulator's: agencies charge statutory provisions, not technique names.
Outcome: SEC release LR-26496 of March 5, 2026 says the SEC filed, as part of a global resolution, a proposed final judgment covering Rainberry, Justin Sun, Tron Foundation and BitTorrent Foundation. If the court approves it, Rainberry would be enjoined under Section 17(a)(3) of the Securities Act and pay a $10 million civil penalty on the wash-trading claim, and the SEC would dismiss with prejudice its remaining claims against Rainberry and all claims against the other Tron defendants. The Tron defendants consented without admitting or denying the allegations as to the settled claim. The SEC also filed a notice of voluntary dismissal of the remaining claim against DeAndre Cortez Way. The release says the dismissals reflect the SEC's discretion and not necessarily its view of any other case. I did not find the court's order approving the judgment, so the $10 million penalty is recorded as proposed; the other celebrity defendants were not checked.
What technique is this, and how does it work?
This action is tagged with 3 techniques in our taxonomy. The tagging is ours: regulators charge statutory provisions, not technique names, so the mapping is an editorial judgement described in our editorial policy.
- Paid stock promotion — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.
- Unregistered distributions — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.
- Wash trading — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.
Timeline
- 2023-03-24 Litigation release published
- 2026-03-05 SEC files proposed final judgment (Rainberry, $10 million penalty) and dismisses remaining claims against the Tron defendants
Primary documents
Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.
Same matter
The library links these 3 records because they appear to concern one matter: the same lead defendant, an overlapping technique tag and close filing dates, or a shared court docket or a release that cites the other. Records are listed by date filed.
| Date filed | Agency | Record | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-03-24 | SEC | SEC v. Justin Sun et al. (paid stock promotion, 2023) | Settled |
| 2023-08-07 | SEC | SEC v. Justin Sun, Tron Foundation Limited, BitTorrent Foundation Ltd., Rainberry, Inc., Austin Mahone, and Deandre Cortez Way (paid stock promotion, 2023) | Judgment entered |
| 2026-03-05 | SEC | SEC v. Justin Sun, Tron Foundation Limited, BitTorrent Foundation Ltd., Rainberry, Inc., and DeAndre Cortez Way (wash trading, 2026) | Settled |
Related actions
Other actions in the library sharing at least one technique tag with this one.