行业快讯

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION,

Plaintiff,

v.

JUSTIN SUN, TRON FOUNDATION LIMITED, BITTORRENT FOUNDATION LTD., RAINBERRY, INC., AUSTIN MAHONE, and DEANDRE CORTEZ WAY, Defendants.

Case No. 23-2433

JURY TRIAL DEMANDED

COMPLAINT 

Plaintiff Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC” or “Commission”) alleges the following:

指控

 原告美国证券交易委员会（以下简称SEC）指控如下：

SUMMARY

诉请

1.This action arises from Defendant Justin Sun’s (“Sun”) orchestration of the unregistered offer and sale, manipulative trading, and unlawful touting of crypto asset securities.

此诉讼起因于被告 Justin Sun（以下简称Sun）策划了未经登记的加密资产证券的发行和销售，以及对该产品实施了操纵交易以及非法兜售。

2. Working through several companies that he owns and controls—including Defendants Tron Foundation Limited (“Tron Foundation”), BitTorrent Foundation Ltd. (“BitTorrent Foundation”), and Rainberry, Inc. (“Rainberry,” and collectively with Sun, the Tron Foundation, and the BitTorrent Foundation, the “Sun Defendants”)—Sun engineered the offer and sale of two crypto asset securities called “TRX” and “BTT.” Starting around August 2017, and continuing thereafter, the Sun Defendants engaged in a scheme to distribute billions of TRX and BTT to the public while also creating active secondary markets on which TRX and BTT could be traded.

Sun通过自己拥有和控制的几家公司——被告Tron Foundation Limited（以下简称Tron 基金公司）、BitTorrent Foundation Ltd（BitTorrent 基金公司）和Rainberry公司（以上公司和Sun合称“包括Sun在内的所有被告”）——Sun开发了两种名为“TRX”和“BTT”的加密资产证券（虚拟币）（以下简称TRX或BTT），并对其进行了发行和销售。自2017年8月左右起，包括Sun在内的所有被告参与了一项计划，此项计划向公众派发了数十亿TRX 与 BTT，同时创建了TRX与BTT可以交易的活跃二级市场。

3. The Sun Defendants offered and sold TRX and BTT as securities and were thus required to register those offers and sales with the SEC unless an exemption from registration was available. But they never did so. Despite engaging in widespread public offers and sales of TRX and BTT, and even though no exemption from registration was available, neither Sun nor his entities ever filed a registration statement with the SEC.

包括Sun在内的所有被告将TRX和BTT作为证券发行和出售，因此应当向SEC登记，除非获得注册豁免，但他们从来没有这样做过。本案的TRX和BTT的公开发行和出售不属于登记豁免证券，而Sun和他的（公司）实体都没有向SEC提交注册声明。

4.Sun also directed the manipulative wash trading of TRX to create the artificial appearance of legitimate investor interest and keep TRX’s price afloat. Sun accomplished this wash trading through: the Tron Foundation, whose employees conducted the trades at Sun’s direction; the BitTorrent Foundation, which, together with the Tron Foundation, owned and controlled nominee accounts used in the trading; and Rainberry, whose employees transferred funds to facilitate the trading and opened at least one nominee account used in the trading. Sun’s wash trading team, working under his direction, engaged in hundreds of thousands of TRX wash trades between accounts that Sun ultimately controlled. None of those trades involved any change in beneficial ownership or had any legitimate economic purpose.

Sun还指导了操纵TRX的洗牌交易，以人为地制造合法的投资者获利的假象，并保持TRX的价格稳定。Sun通过以下渠道完成了这场洗牌交易：Tron基金公司的员工在Sun的指导下进行交易；BitTorrent基金公司与Tron基金公司一起拥有并控制交易中使用的代理账户；Rainberry公司的员工转移资金用于促进交易，并开设了至少一个用于交易的理代账户。在Sun的指导下，他的洗牌交易团队在Sun最终控制的账户之间进行了数十万笔TRX洗牌交易。这些交易都没有（实际）改变受益人所有权的改变，也没有任何合法的经济目的。

5.To drive public interest in TRX and BTT, the Sun Defendants created a publicity campaign that involved paying celebrities, including Defendants Austin Mahone (“Mahone”) and DeAndre Cortez Way (“Way”), among others, to promote or tout TRX and BTT on their social media accounts, which had millions of followers. Although the celebrities were paid to promote TRX and BTT, their touts on social media did not disclose that they had been paid or the amounts of their payments. Thus, the public was misled into believing that these celebrities had unbiased interest in TRX and BTT, and were not merely paid spokespersons.

为了推动公众对TRX和BTT的兴趣，包括Sun在内的所有被告发起了一场宣传活动，包括向被告 Austin Mahone（以下简称Mahone）、DeAndre Cortez Way（以下简称Way）等人在内支付费用，在他们拥有数百万粉丝的社交媒体账户上推广或兜售TRX和BTT。尽管这些名人被收买来兜售去宣传TRX和BTT，但他们在社交媒体上的兜售行为并未没有透露他们是否收到了报酬，也没有透露报酬的（具体）金额。因此，广大公众被误导了，认为这些名人对TRX和BTT有真正的兴趣，而不仅仅是付费的代言人。

6.Additionally, Sun materially misrepresented the truth about the touting campaign to deceive investors. In February 2021, Sun stated falsely on social media, “If any celebrities arepaid to promote TRON, we require them to disclose.” In fact, Sun himself arranged the payments to celebrities and knew those payments were not disclosed.

此外，Sun还在很大程度上歪曲了有关兜售活动的真相，目的是欺骗投资者。（例如）2021年2月，Sun孙在社交媒体上发布虚假声明：“如果有名人付费宣传TRON，我们会要求他们披露这种实情的。”但事实上，Sun孙本人亲自安排了向名人的付款，并且知道这些付款信息没有被向公众披露。

7．By their conduct alleged herein, the Sun Defendants violated registration and antifraud provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”), specifically Sections 5(a) and (c), 15 U.S.C. 【1】§§ 77e(a) and (c), and Sections 17(a)(1) and (3) of the Securities Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 77q(a)(1) and (3). They also violated anti-manipulation and anti-fraud provisions of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”), specifically Sections 9(a)(1) and (2), 15 U.S.C.§§ 78i(a)(1) and (2), and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act, 15 U.S.C. § 78j(b), and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, 17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5. Additionally, they aided and abetted violations of the antitouting provision, Section 17(b) of the Securities Act, 15 U.S.C. § 77q(b), by multiple celebrities, including Mahone and Way.

在本案中，包括Sun在内的所有被告，违反了《1933年证券法》（以下简称《证券法》）的注册条款和反欺诈条款，特别是第5(a)和(c)条，以及《证券法》第17(a)(1)和(3)条。他们还违反了《1934年证券交易法》（以下简称《交易法》）中的反操纵和反欺诈条款，特别是第9(a)(1)和(2)条以及第10(b)条（在 15 U.S.C.），及其根据该法所制定的下规则10b-5（在 17 C.F.R.）条。此外，他们协助并教唆包括 Mahone和Way在内的多位名人违反《证券法》第17(b)条的反兜售规定。

8.By their conduct alleged herein, Mahone and Way violated the anti-touting provision, Section 17(b) of the Securities Act, 15 U.S.C. § 77q(b).

在本案中，Mahone和 andWay的被指控的行为违反了《证券法》第17(b)条的反兜售条款。

9.Unless restrained and enjoined, Defendants will continue to violate the federal securities laws.

除非被告们自我约束或者依照法院禁令行事，否则将他们继续违反上述联邦证券法。

12.Defendant Justin Sun (a/k/a Yuchen Sun), age 32, is a Chinese national and crypto asset entrepreneur. Sun attended college in China and received a post-graduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Sun is currently the Permanent Representative of Grenada to the World Trade Organization and is believed to be living in Singapore and/or Hong Kong. At all relevant times, Sun acted through, on behalf of, and for the benefit of the Tron Foundation, the BitTorrent Foundation, and Rainberry.

本案被告Sun， 32岁，中国公民，加密资产企业家。Sun大学就读于中国，并在宾夕法尼亚大学获得研究生学位。Sun目前是格林纳达常驻世界贸易组织代表，居住于新加坡和/或香港。在涉案时间内，Sun是Tron基金公司、BitTorrent基金公司, 以及Rainberry公司的代表，并为它们的利益行事。

13.Defendant Tron Foundation Limited was founded by Sun in 2017 as a Singapore Public Company Limited by Guarantee. The Tron Foundation is one of several alterego entities organized by Sun through which he conducted the TRX and BTT offerings and managed the development and marketing of the Tron ecosystem. From 2017 to the present, Sun has owned and controlled the Tron Foundation.

被告Tron 基金公司由Sun于2017年成立，是一家新加坡公众担保有限公司。Tron 基金公司是Sun组织的几个实体企业之一，他通过这些实体负责发行TRX和BTT，并管理Tron生态系统的开发和营销。从2017年至今，Sun一直拥有并控制着Tron 基金公司。

14.Defendant BitTorrent Foundation Ltd. (sometimes d/b/a BitTorrent) was founded by Sun in October 2018 as a Singapore Public Company Limited by Guarantee. The BitTorrent Foundation is one of several alter-ego entities organized by Sun, including the Tron Foundation, through which he conducted the BTT offerings and managed, together with Rainberry, Inc., the development and marketing of the BitTorrent protocol. From 2018 to the present, Sun has owned and controlled the BitTorrent Foundation.

被告BitTorrent 基金公司（有时负责 BitTorrent业务）由Sun于2018年10月成立，是一家新加坡公众担保有限公司。BitTorrent 基金公司是Sun组织的几个实体企业之一，其中包括Tron 基金公司；通过该基金公司，Sun与Rainberry公司一起负责BTT的发行，以及管理BitTorrent协议的开发和营销。从2018年至今，Sun一直拥有并控制着BitTorrent 基金公司。

15. Defendant Rainberry, Inc. (sometimes d/b/a BitTorrent) is a California corporation owned and managed by Sun. The corporation was founded in 2004 and operated asBitTorrent, Inc. until June 2018, when it was acquired by Sun and renamed Rainberry, Inc. From 2018 to the present, Sun has owned and controlled Rainberry and is its only shareholder and officer.

被告Rainberry公司（有时负责 BitTorrent业务）是一家由Sun拥有和管理的加州公司。该公司成立于2004年，以BitTorrent股份有限公司的名义运营，直到2018年6月被Sun收购并更名为Rainberry股份有限公司。从2018年至今，Sun拥有并控制Rainberry公司，并且是其唯一的股东和高管。

16. Defendant Austin Mahone, age 26, is a U.S. citizen and a singer and songwriter residing in Miami, Florida. At or around the time of his relevant actions alleged herein, Mahone had approximately 9.1 million followers on Twitter.

本案被告Austin Mahone，26岁，是美国公民，歌手兼词曲作者，居住在佛罗里达州迈阿密。在涉案时间内，Mahone在推特上拥有大约910万粉丝。

17.Defendant DeAndre Cortez Way (a/k/a Soulja Boy), age 32, is a U.S. citizen and a singer and record producer residing in Calabasas, California. At or around the time of his relevant actions alleged herein, Way had approximately 5.2 million followers on Twitter.

本案被告DeAndre Cortez Way（又名Soulja Boy），32岁，是美国公民，歌手兼唱片制作人，现居加州卡拉巴萨斯。在涉案时间内，Way在Twitter上拥有大约520万粉丝。

18.Congress enacted the Securities Act to regulate the offer and sale of securities. In contrast to commercial principles of caveat emptor (or buyer beware), Congress in the Securities Act enacted a regime of full and fair disclosure, requiring those who offer and sell securities to the investing public to provide sufficient, accurate information to allow investors to make informed decisions before they invest.

国会制定《证券法》来规范证券的发行与销售。与“买者自负”（或“买方自负”）的商业原则相反，国会在《证券法》中确立了一项全面且公平的披露制度，要求那些向投资公众发行和出售证券的人提供充分、准确的信息，以便投资者在投资前做出明智的决定。

19.Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act generally require an issuer of securities to register an offering of securities through an effective registration statement before the securities are offered and sold to the public. See 15 U.S.C. § 77e(a) and (c). Registration statements for a securities offering provide public investors with material information about the issuer and the securities to be offered and sold.

《证券法》第5(a)条和第5(c)条通常要求证券发行人在向公众发行和出售证券之前，通过有效的注册登记。证券发行的注册登记，（目的是）向公众投资者提供有关发行人和拟发行出售证券的重大信息。

20. Section 2(a)(1) of the Securities Act defines “security” to include a wide range of investment vehicles, including an “investment contract.” 15 U.S.C. § 77b(a)(1). An investment contract, for purposes of the Securities Act, includes any “contract, transaction or scheme whereby a person invests his money in a common enterprise and is led to expect profits” from the efforts of others. SEC v. W.J. Howey Co., 328 U.S. 293, 298-99 (1946). This broad definition is “flexible” and “capable of adaptation to meet the countless and variable schemes devised by those who seek the use of the money of others on the promise of profits.” Id. at 299. Courts have found that many types of investments, including crypto assets, may constitute investment contracts and thus securities. See, e.g., SEC v. Kik Interactive Inc., 492 F. Supp. 3d 169, 173 (S.D.N.Y. 2020)【2】 (holding that certain crypto assets were sold as securities in unregistered transactions).

《证券法》第2(a)(1)条对“证券”的定义，包括广泛的投资工具如“投资合同”。就《证券法》而言，投资合同包括任何“个人将资金投资于共同企业并期望从他人的努力中获得利润的合同、交易或计划”。参见SEC v W.J. Howey Co.案。这个宽泛的定义是“灵活的”并且“能够适用于那些寻求利用他人的金钱并承诺利益（回报）的人设计的、无穷无尽且名称各异的方案”。法院发现，本案中包括加密资产在内的许多类型的投资可能构成投资合同，从而构成证券。参见SEC v. Kik Interactive Inc.(2020)（判决认为某些加密资产在未注册交易中作为证券出售）。

21. In analyzing whether something is a security, “form should be disregarded for substance,” Tcherepnin v. Knight, 389 U.S. 332, 336 (1967), “and the emphasis should be on economic realities underlying a transaction, and not on the name appended thereto.” United Housing Found., Inc. v. Forman, 421 U.S. 837, 849 (1975).

在分析某种金融工具是否为证券时，应“重实质轻形式”，参见Tcherepnin v. Knight (1967)案；应该“重点考察交易行为所体现的经济实质，而不是该交易行为的名称”，参见United Housing Found., Inc. v. Forman, 421 U.S. 837, 849 (1975)案。

22. The term “crypto asset” generally refers to an asset issued and/or transferred using distributed ledger or blockchain technology, including assets sometimes referred to as “cryptocurrencies,” “digital assets,” “virtual currencies,” “digital coins,” and “digital tokens.”

“加密资产”通常是指使用分布式账本或区块链技术发行和/或转让的资产，其涵括的种类包括有时被称为“加密货币”、“数字资产”、“虚拟货币”、“数字硬币”和“数字代币”等等。

23. A blockchain or distributed ledger is a peer-to-peer database spread across a network of computers that records all transactions in theoretically unchangeable, digitally recorded data packages. The system relies on cryptographic techniques for secure【3】 recording of ransactions.

区块链（或称为分布式账本）是一种点对点的数据库，它分布在计算机网络中，形成了所谓的电子数据包。数据包记录了所有交易信息，而且所记录的信息以理论上是无法篡改的。该系统依靠加密技术，以确保交易记录的安全。

24. Blockchains typically employ a consensus mechanism to “validate” transactions, which, among other things, aims to achieve agreement on a data value or on the state of the ledger. Crypto assets may be traded on crypto asset trading platforms in exchange for othercrypto assets; they may also be also be purchased or sold from the platform in exchange for fiat currency (legal tender issued by a country).

区块链通常采用共识机制来“验证”交易。此种机制的目的之一是就数据值或分类账状态达成一致。加密资产可以在加密资产交易平台上交易，以换取其他加密资产；它们也可以从平台上购买或出售，以换取法定货币（即一个国家发行的法定货币）。

25. A blockchain “protocol” is a code, software, or algorithm that governs how a blockchain, or a feature of a blockchain, operates, including, among other things, the validation mechanism used for the particular blockchain.

区块链“协议”是一种代码、软件或算法，用于管理区块链如何运作，包括用于特定区块链的验证机制。

26. On July 25, 2017, the SEC issued the Report of Investigation Pursuant to Section  

21(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934: The DAO, advising “those who would use . . .distributed ledger or blockchain-enabled means for capital raising[] to take appropriate steps to ensure compliance with the U.S. federal securities laws,” and finding that the offering of crypto assets at issue in that report involved investment contracts and thus securities.

2017年7月25日，SEC发布了依据《1934年证券交易法》第21(a)条的调查报告即DAO，该报告建议“那些将使用……分布式账本或区块链融资手段[  ]采取适当措施以保证遵守美国联邦证券法”；该报告还发现，处于争议的加密资产的发行涉及投资合同，因此属于证券。