SEC v. Justin Sun, Tron Foundation Limited, BitTorrent Foundation Ltd., Rainberry, Inc., and DeAndre Cortez Way (wash trading, 2026)

Settled

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In March 2026, the SEC announced a proposed settlement of its wash trading claim against Rainberry, Inc. for a US$10 million penalty, and dismissed with prejudice its remaining claims against Rainberry and all claims against Justin Sun, Tron Foundation Limited and BitTorrent Foundation Ltd.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

$10m

Disgorgement

—

Prejudgment interest

—

Total relief

$10m

Alleged gain

—

A dash means the release did not state a figure we could extract, not that the figure is zero. Penalty and disgorgement are stored separately so aggregates across the library do not double-count the same dollars.

What is alleged to have happened

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced this matter on March 5, 2026 as release LR-26496. The respondents named are Justin Sun, Tron Foundation Limited, BitTorrent Foundation Ltd., Rainberry, Inc., and DeAndre Cortez Way (1 individual, 1 entity).

The amended complaint alleged that in 2018 and 2019 Rainberry, formerly BitTorrent, facilitated wash trading to inflate the trading volume of TRX. Rainberry agreed to an injunction under Securities Act section 17(a)(3) and a $10 million penalty without admitting or denying the allegations, subject to court approval. The SEC dropped its remaining claims, including the claim against celebrity DeAndre Cortez Way, as a matter of discretion.

This library tags the matter as wash trading, based on the conduct the regulator describes. Each tag links to a page explaining how that technique works, what statute it engages, and what penalties comparable actions have attracted. The tagging is ours, not the regulator's: agencies charge statutory provisions, not technique names.

A proposed civil penalty of $10 million against Rainberry only. No money is ordered against Sun or the Tron and BitTorrent foundations.

The settlement is proposed and subject to court approval. The claims against Sun and the foundations were dismissed, not proven.

What technique is this, and how does it work?

This action is tagged with one technique 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.

• Wash trading — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.

Timeline

1. 2026-03-05 Litigation release published

Primary documents

Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.

• SEC litigation release

The linked release is a work of the United States government and is not subject to copyright. Our summary and narrative above are our own writing.

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.

This grouping is the library's, made by matching names, techniques, dates and citations when the site is built. It is not the regulator's or a court's determination that the records are one case, and it errs towards missing a link rather than making a false one.

Related actions

Other actions in the library sharing at least one technique tag with this one.

Record added September 10, 2026. submit a correction.