A U.S. judge has dealt a significant blow to Tron founder and CEO Justin Sun, rejecting his attempt to prevent Bloomberg from publishing details of his extensive cryptocurrency holdings. This ruling underscores the challenges public figures face when seeking to control the dissemination of financial information, especially concerning volatile and highly visible assets like cryptocurrencies.
The Legal Challenge Against Bloomberg
The dispute began when Bloomberg, preparing an entry for its Billionaires Index, sought information on Sun's wealth. Alleging that Bloomberg intended to publish "unverified, confidential, and private" specific financial holdings, Sun filed a lawsuit on August 11, seeking a temporary restraining order and a preliminary and permanent injunction. He aimed to prohibit Bloomberg from disclosing the quantities of any specific cryptocurrencies he owned, including an estimated 60 billion Tron (TRX), 17,000 Bitcoin (BTC), 224,000 Ether (ETH), and 700 million Tether (USDT). The motion was renewed on September 11 after initial discussions between Sun's legal team and Bloomberg proved fruitless.
Judge's Ruling and Rationale
In a decisive move, U.S. District Judge Colm Connolly sided with Bloomberg, denying both the temporary restraining order and the injunction. Judge Connolly determined that Sun failed to prove that Bloomberg had promised to keep the data private. Crucially, Sun also could not demonstrate that the disclosure of his crypto assets would significantly elevate his risk of "hacks, phishing, social engineering, kidnapping, or bodily injury." The judge pointed to Sun's own history of highly detailed disclosures of his Bitcoin assets on social media, which he argued "undermines his claim that he is now under threat because Bloomberg published estimates of his crypto assets." This previous public sharing of information, according to the court, ultimately weakened his argument for privacy and personal safety.
