Justin Sun sues Bloomberg over “inaccurate” Billionaires Index crypto data, raising questions on reporting accuracy and legal stakes
Justin Sun and Bloomberg are now in a legal fight over privacy, especially with his listing in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The founder of the Tron blockchain filed a lawsuit on August 11 in Delaware federal court, and is seeking to stop the outlet from publishing what he calls “false and confidential information” about his crypto holdings.
Bloomberg published Sun’s profile in the Billionaires Index on August 14. It stated that the data that was published came from financial information his representatives provided earlier this year.
The outlet’s report included an estimate that Sun holds about 60 billion Tronix (TRX), 17,000 Bitcoin, 224,000 Ether and 700,000 USDT.
Bloomberg said its analysis showed that most of Sun’s net worth comes from crypto. It also gave the accuracy of its assessment one star out of five, indicating that it had low confidence in the exact figures.
Lawyers for Bloomberg told the court that they will oppose Sun’s request for a temporary restraining order. They even argue the application is moot because the article was published before Sun’s filing.
In essence, they also plan to claim that blocking the report would violate First Amendment protections for press freedom.
Sun’s complaint says a Bloomberg journalist contacted his team in February to include him in the Index. Before sharing details, Sun says that he was told the data would remain strictly confidential.
He says that he was told the figures would only be used internally to confirm his net worth.
He reviewed other Index profiles of crypto holders and saw they listed only total asset values. Because of this, he says that Bloomberg instead published a detailed breakdown of his holdings, along with figures he denies owning alongside other inaccuracies.
According to an August 2 cease and desist letter, Sun asked Bloomberg not to release the detailed data. His lawyers say the outlet confirmed it would proceed regardless.
The lawsuit warns that publicising Sun’s holdings could make him a target. It also referenced the rise in violent attacks against crypto owners.
For context, in January, criminals kidnapped Ledger co-founder David Balland in France. The attackers invaded his home and injured him to access his crypto wallet. There have also been similar crimes around the world with street assaults, gunpoint robberies and abductions.
Sun’s legal team says that Bloomberg making his asset breakdown public could help criminals identify wallets linked to him. They argue, that this increases the risk of targeted theft and physical attacks.
Bloomberg’s Index entry suggests shows that Sun’s TRX holdings are more than half the token’s circulating supply. This continues to raise issues about decentralization in the Tron network and its stability over the long term.
Bloomberg adjusted the valuation of Sun’s TRX by 75% in its net worth estimate. The outlet argued that selling such a large share of the token supply would be impossible without driving down its price.
The company also applied a 50% liquidity discount to Sun’s reported 90% stake in the HTX crypto exchange.
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