Justin Sun, founder of the TRON blockchain, filed a lawsuit against Bloomberg in federal court in Delaware, accusing the news agency of breaching its promise of confidentiality and preparing to publish his detailed cryptocurrency portfolio.
The 14-page complaint, filed on August 1, stated that the dispute began when Bloomberg sought to include Sun in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a ranking of the richest 500 people in the world.
According to the filing, Sun agreed to provide details about his assets after Bloomberg repeatedly promised him, both in writing and verbally, that the information would remain confidential and would only be used to verify his net worth.
Sun stated that internal messages from Bloomberg showed reporters and editors agreed to restrict access to the figures and delete them after verification. He also reviewed other records in the index and found no precedent for publishing individual cryptocurrency analyses unless those figures were already public.
The lawsuit claims that Bloomberg's draft filing, which was sent to him in late July, included 'numerous inaccuracies' as well as a detailed list of his cryptocurrency holdings by token. Sun argues that publishing this information would violate the agreement between the parties and expose him to the risk of hacking, theft, and extortion, even putting his life and the lives of his family at risk.
On August 2, his lawyers sent a letter requesting that Bloomberg refrain from publishing information about his total net worth and his extensive portfolio of assets. Bloomberg's lawyers responded in a newsroom that the company intends to issue a detailed statement 'soon.'
Sun is seeking a temporary restraining order, as well as a preliminary and permanent injunction, to prevent publication. He is also requesting the court to compensate him for legal fees, accusing Bloomberg of disclosing private information and preventing it from fulfilling its promises.
The case drew public attention after Molly White, a software engineer and cryptocurrency market commentator, published court documents. In a post on X, White quoted the Sun saying that Bloomberg planned to 'recklessly and inappropriately disclose his sensitive, private, and proprietary financial information,' which he had only provided to verify his status on the index.
The dispute has sparked a broader discussion in the cryptocurrency world about how far financial publications can go when reporting on the wealth of digital asset holders and where the line should be drawn between public interest and personal security.
