Sun Yuchen Sues Bloomberg: A Privacy Rights Battle Between Crypto Tycoon and Media Giant
The Sequence of Events: A Confidentiality Commitment and Data Leak
In August 2025, Sun Yuchen, the founder of Tron, filed a lawsuit against Bloomberg in the U.S. Federal Court of Delaware, accusing it of violating their agreement on 'strict confidentiality' by publicly disclosing details about his crypto assets. The trigger for this dispute arose when Bloomberg requested asset verification information from Sun Yuchen's team while compiling the Billionaires Index, promising it would be used solely for internal accounting. However, Bloomberg ultimately published a report on August 11 detailing the amounts of TRX, BTC, ETH, and other cryptocurrencies held by Sun Yuchen, as well as equity in exchanges, even including unverified asset valuations.
Sun Yuchen's legal team pointed out that Bloomberg's actions could expose him to risks such as 'theft, hacking, and kidnapping.' Due to the transparency of blockchain, once on-chain addresses are associated with personal identities, attackers can trace asset flows through 'address clustering technology' and implement precise extortion. Bloomberg argued that the related report has been published, making the injunction request 'meaningless,' and cited the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to advocate for press freedom.
Asset Decoding: The Crypto Empire Behind a $12.4 Billion Valuation
According to data disclosed by Bloomberg, Sun Yuchen's nominal asset value is approximately $24.6 billion, but due to the high volatility and liquidity risks of cryptocurrencies, the actual valuation has been discounted to $12.4 billion. His wealth comprises mainly two parts:
1. Core Crypto Assets
- TRX (Tron): Holds 60 billion coins, accounting for 63.3% of TRX's total supply, with a nominal value of $21.6 billion, but discounted by 75% due to market liquidity risks.
- BTC and ETH: Holds 17,000 and 224,000 coins, valued at approximately $2.04 billion and $1.05 billion, respectively.
- USDT and Stablecoins: Holds 700,000 USDT and $2 billion in other stablecoins, mainly used for DeFi financial management.
2. Business Map Support
- HTX Exchange: Holds a 90% stake, with revenue reaching $1.3 billion in 2024, becoming its core cash flow source.
- Strategic Investments: Including the Trump family crypto project World Liberty Financial (invested $75 million) and NFT platform APENFT.
It is noteworthy that undisclosed assets by Bloomberg (such as some exchange equity) could further increase his fortune if verified. This disclosure not only exposed Sun Yuchen's absolute control over the Tron ecosystem (TRX holdings far exceed external estimates) but also revealed the 'on-chain nakedness' dilemma of crypto tycoons' wealth.
Controversial Life: From Peking University Prodigy to 'Fugitive'
Sun Yuchen's accumulation of wealth has always been intertwined with controversy. Born in 1990 in Qinghai, he entered public view as a Peking University Chinese Department student but caused an uproar due to a series of 'unconventional operations':
- Smuggling Suspicion: After being restricted from leaving China in 2018, he disguised a business vehicle as goods to transport it to Vietnam through the Guangxi border, and then escaped overseas using Costa Rican and Saint Kitts passports, never returning to the country since.
- Marketing Genius: From purchasing a lunch with Buffett for an exorbitant price (later postponed due to kidney stones) to spending $6.24 million on artwork (of a comedian) and eating it publicly, his high-profile actions have repeatedly become the focus.
- Technological Ambition: In 2019, pushed for a partnership between Tron and Tether to issue USDT, leveraging advantages like '5-second transfers and a few cents in fees' to seize market share. Currently, the Tron network has become the largest USDT interaction network globally, with daily fee revenue reaching $2 million.
Industry Insight: The Privacy Paradox in the Crypto World
The Sun Yuchen case reflects the core contradiction of blockchain technology: the conflict between transparency and privacy protection. Although the public ledger of blockchain enhances trust, when wealth is highly concentrated, on-chain data may become a 'digital wanted order.' Following the Bloomberg incident, the crypto community began to reflect: is there a need for stricter asset anonymity mechanisms? How should we balance media oversight with personal safety?
The outcome of this lawsuit remains unclear, but it can be anticipated that with increasing regulatory scrutiny and advancements in on-chain analysis technology, the wealth management strategies of crypto tycoons may face more severe challenges. For Sun Yuchen, regardless of the outcome, he has once again become an iconic figure in the crypto narrative—an 'outlaw' navigating the legal gray area while writing a controversial business legend.
