Justin Sun Loses Diplomatic Status In Grenada After Government Overhaul
Justin Sun, the founder of Tron blockchain, has been stripped of his status as an ambassador for Grenada. According to the Grenada Broadcasting Network, the status of all ambassadors was recalled in the early months of the new administration, which took over after elections in June 2022. Sun was granted the position by the New National Party, which was ousted by the National Democratic Congress. Despite weeks of speculation, Sun had not publicly acknowledged the loss of his position until he tweeted on Friday that his term as the Ambassador of Grenada to the WTO would be ending on March 31, 2023.
Justin Sun responded that he is still the permanent representative of Grenada to the WTO, and provided a screenshot of the WTO official website. pic.twitter.com/zdWnx0HkuS
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) March 31, 2023
Sun’s Ambassador Title Revoked
Sun was appointed as World Trade Organization ambassador by the government of Grenada in 2021. Since then, he has styled himself “His Excellency” and has touted his credentials in interviews and on his social media accounts. Sun tweeted from his diplomatic Twitter account (@HEjustinsun) as recently as October, and, as of press time, he still maintained the “H.E.” honorific on his personal Twitter account.
The loss of Sun’s diplomatic status follows a recent lawsuit against him and three of his companies, including the Tron Foundation, by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The lawsuit alleges that Sun manipulated the market for Tron’s native token, TRX, through “extensive wash trading” and orchestrated a scheme to pay celebrities to promote TRX without disclosing their compensation. Eight celebrities, including Lindsay Lohan and Jake Paul, were also charged and have since settled.
Sun’s Controversial History
The lawsuit is just the latest in a series of controversies involving Sun. In 2019, he faced criticism for cancelling a charity lunch with billionaire investor Warren Buffett after being accused of “smuggling” Chinese nationals out of China. Sun later apologized and rescheduled the lunch for 2020, which was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Officials with Grenada’s foreign affairs office and government information services have not commented on Sun’s diplomatic status. It is unclear whether Sun’s loss of status is related to the recent lawsuit or if it is simply a result of the change in government in Grenada.
