Justin Sun is making great strides on the path to mainstream capital markets.
Tron Listing on US Stock Market
On the evening of June 16 Beijing time, the market first leaked news about "Tron's plan to seek listing in the United States". Just as people were puzzled about how a crypto-oriented entity would navigate the compliant listing process, various sources successively disclosed more details.
The Financial Times reported that Tron will achieve listing through a reverse merger with SRM Entertainment, which is already listed on Nasdaq, with the transaction being handled by Dominari Securities, a New York-based investment bank with connections to Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump.
Shortly after, SRM Entertainment officially announced that it has signed a $100 million stock investment agreement with a private investor, and will use these funds to launch a treasury strategy around TRX (similar to BTC's treasury strategy). The investment bank Dominari Securities will serve as the exclusive placement agent for this issuance.
According to the agreement terms, SRM Entertainment will issue a total of 100,000 Class B convertible preferred shares (convertible to 200 million common shares at a conversion price of $0.50 per share), and 220 million warrants (which can subscribe to a total of 220 million common shares at an exercise price of $0.50 per share) —— this means that if all warrants are exercised, the total strategic investment value will reach $210 million, corresponding to 420 million newly issued shares, which could dilute the current 17.24 million circulating shares by up to 23.36 times, reducing original shareholders' stake to approximately 3.94%.
Additionally, SRM Entertainment announced that Tron founder Justin Sun has been appointed as a company advisor, and the company plans to rename itself Tron Inc —— which confirms the previously circulated "reverse merger listing" rumor.
After the official announcement, both TRX's price and SRM's stock price were boosted. OKX data shows that after the announcement, TRX briefly surged to 0.295 USDT, reporting at 0.279 USDT as of 22:35 on the 16th, with a 24-hour increase of 2.5%; US stock market data shows SRM opened with a massive surge, reporting at $9.08 as of 23:55 on the 16th, with a staggering increase of 526.21%.
Brother Sun's "Mainstream Counterattack" Path
It's hard to imagine that just two years ago, Justin Sun was facing SEC regulatory attacks, and now he has become an advisor to Trump family project World Liberty Financial (WLFI), the top donor at a "TRUMP" themed dinner, and Tron is following in Circle's footsteps to become another crypto-native project going public on US stocks.
On March 22, 2023, the SEC, then led by "crypto Voldemort" Gary Gensler, filed a lawsuit against Justin Sun and his three companies Tron, BitTorrent, and Rainberry, accusing him of selling unregistered securities, market manipulation, and conducting numerous wash trades. For over a year, while the case did not see substantial legal progress, it clearly impacted Sun's operations in the US and other jurisdictions.
However, everything changed with Trump's potential victory in November 2024. Under Trump's "crypto-embracing" policy, the regulatory clouds around cryptocurrencies quickly dissipated, with Trump and his family subsequently launching multiple crypto projects like TRUMP and WLFI —— and the always keen-sensed Justin Sun seized this "destiny-changing" opportunity.
In November 2024, the Trump family project WLFI announced Justin Sun would join as an advisor, and the day before, Sun had announced a $30 million investment in WLFI. In January 2025, Sun added more investment, increasing the total to $75 million. In return, WLFI has incorporated TRX into its investment portfolio, repeatedly making public purchases.
In February 2025, the SEC (with Gary Gensler having stepped down and pro-crypto Paul Atkins about to take office), Tron Foundation, and Justin Sun submitted a joint motion requesting the federal judge to suspend the lawsuit against Sun and Tron, seeking a potential settlement.
In March 2025, Justin Sun appeared on the cover of Forbes English edition, with the headline describing him as a "crypto billionaire who helped the Trump family earn $400 million".
In April 2025, Justin Sun co-attended the Token 2049 conference with Trump's second son Eric Trump, further solidifying their collaborative relationship —— notably, rumors suggest Sun now only stays in Trump-branded hotels.
Also in April, a TRX ETF first appeared in market discussions —— asset management company Canary announced it had submitted a staked TRX ETF application to regulators.
In May 2025, a "TRUMP" themed dinner was held at Trump's National Golf Club outside Washington DC, with the top 220 TRUMP token holders by weighted position invited, and Justin Sun attended as the top holder, receiving a limited edition Trump Tourbillon watch personally gifted by Trump.
In June 2025, just as people were becoming desensitized to the interactions between Justin Sun and the Trump family, Sun dropped another bombshell about "Tron listing on Nasdaq".
Looking back at the massive changes surrounding Justin Sun and Tron over the past few years and recent months, and contemplating the era's transformation, one can't help but marvel at how times have changed.
Once, Justin Sun would often appear publicly claiming to be a small country's ambassador, with people joking about his many strange titles, more numerous than the Dragon Mother in "Game of Thrones". Now, he has truly stood at the center stage of the US capital market through his own efforts.
Whether through criticism or writing, we cannot ignore this "financial myth" of the new absurd era —— the remarkable Gatsby Sun.
