Chinese cryptocurrency investor Justin Sun invested $30 million in President-elect Donald Trump’s cryptocurrency project three weeks after he was elected.
Sun is currently under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission for charges of fraud and market manipulation, but those charges could be dropped depending on who Trump nominates to lead the SEC.
Trump’s project, World Liberty Financial, would begin funneling 75% of its net revenue to Trump or a company with ties to his family once it met an initial $30 million in net revenue to be held in reserve. Thanks to Sun’s investment, the crypto company has been bumped above its $30 million threshold.
Prior to Sun’s investment, World Liberty Financial wasn’t close to meeting its $30 million deal. The platform opened with an offering of more than $288 million in October but sold just $2.7 million worth of its tokens by Oct. 30. Just before Sun’s investment, the crypto project sold more than $21 million in tokens, but after the investment, it ballooned to $51 million.
In a statement to the Washington Post regarding Sun’s investment, incoming White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt did not address World Liberty Financial but instead said, “President Trump removed himself from his multibillion-dollar real estate empire to run for office and forewent his government salary.”
The cryptocurrency industry poured millions of dollars into Trump’s campaign. The president-elect vowed to make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet” and to “defend the right to mine Bitcoin.”
This summer, he pledged to fire SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, who brought charges against Sun in March 2023.
Sun is accused of making an unregistered offer and sale of two crypto assets, Tronix and BitTorrent, and also manipulating the market for Tronix by paying celebrities such as Lindsey Lohan, Jake Paul, Akon, and Ne-Yo to promote the currency without disclosing that they were paid to do so.
“This case demonstrates again the high risk investors face when crypto asset securities are offered and sold without proper disclosure,” Gensler said in a statement at the time.
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In response to the charges, Sun said they lacked total merit.
“We believe the complaint lacks merit, and in the meantime will continue building the most decentralized financial system,” he wrote.