★ Government Action
SEC pauses Justin Sun securities fraud lawsuit
Filed February 2025
★ The Brief
What happened
Early in 2025, the SEC agreed to pause its securities-fraud lawsuit against crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun, a Biden-era case alleging he manipulated the market for his token and paid celebrities to promote it without disclosing they were compensated.
Who enabled it
Who benefits
Deal or steal?
Sun's firm had become an anchor investor in Trump's family crypto venture World Liberty Financial with a $30 million stake; the SEC paused his fraud case as the administration eased crypto enforcement. Sun later became the top holder of Trump's memecoin.
★ Cast your vote
Earlier in 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Justin Sun agreed to pause a lawsuit originally filed during the Biden administration. The suit alleged that Sun fraudulently manipulated the secondary market for a crypto token created by his company and paid celebrities including Lindsay Lohan and Jake Paul to promote it without disclosing their compensation. The pause was described as an opportunity to 'explore a potential resolution' and was part of a broader shift by the Trump administration to ease cryptocurrency enforcement. Sun's firm has separately invested tens of millions of dollars in World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture backed by Donald Trump and his two eldest sons.
Further reading
- ★ Private ActionMay 2025Justin Sun becomes top $TRUMP holder to secure dinner invite
- ★ Private ActionMay 2025Trump hosts golf-club dinner for memecoin holders after $148M buy-in
- ★ Private ActionNovember 2024Justin Sun anchors Trump DeFi token sale with $30M buy
- ★ Private ActionJune 2026Trump banked $2.2 billion in year one, mostly from crypto he regulates
- ★ Private ActionMay 2026Trump sons anchor Dominari's $1B American Ventures portfolio
- ★ Government ActionJanuary 2026Trump's two top market regulators launch joint 'Project Crypto'