The U.S. SEC has indicated a potential reason for pursuing Tron Founder Justin Sun, citing his extensive visits to the United States as a basis for legal action. In an amended complaint against Sun, the SEC alleged that his numerous trips to the U.S. between 2017 and 2019, totaling over 380 days, could be grounds for regulatory action. Additionally, the SEC accused Sun of engaging in wash trading to manipulate the TRX secondary market.

Sun's visits to major U.S. cities such as New York, Boston, and San Francisco were highlighted by the SEC as contributing to their case. The SEC pointed out that Sun stayed in an apartment rented by Rainberry, a company associated with him, during some of his U.S. business trips in 2019.

Furthermore, the SEC clarified that the wash trading allegations involving TRX tokens were specifically tied to the Bittrex exchange. Sun personally interacted with the platform team regarding TRX's listing in 2018 and signed numerous documents related to the company's activities. The SEC emphasized that Bittrex's U.S.-based operations supported its jurisdiction over the defendants.

The SEC's pursuit of Sun follows its settlement with Bittrex and its head in August 2023, where they agreed to pay $24 million to resolve claims related to regulatory violations. Prior to this settlement, Bittrex had unsuccessfully challenged the SEC's authority to regulate cryptocurrencies.

In March 2023, the SEC accused Sun and three associated companies of conducting an unregistered offering of securities in the form of Tron and BitTorrent tokens.