Key proints:

• Lawmakers Jeff Merkley and Sean Casten have asked the SEC to explain its dropped fraud case against Justin Sun and clarify rules for crypto listings.
  
• They cited Sun’s ties to Donald Trump, including investments in the $TRUMP memecoin and World Liberty Financial, raising conflict of interest concerns.
  
• The letter also flagged Tron’s Nasdaq debut via reverse merger, warning of financial, security, and disclosure risks tied to the process.

In a September 17 letter addressed to SEC Chair Paul Atkins and Acting Director of the Division of Corporation Finance Cicely LaMothe, Merkley and Casten raised concerns about Sun’s business ties with President Donald Trump. The lawmakers questioned whether these connections created potential conflicts of interest or risks of foreign influence, citing the SEC’s decision during the Trump administration to drop its fraud case against Sun.

“Mr. Sun’s decision to take his company public, potentially with the assistance of members of the Trump family, raises significant national security and investor protection concerns,” the letter wrote. “We urge the SEC to commit to ensuring full oversight of Mr. Sun and his company’s attempts to access U.S. capital markets, with particular attention to his concerning ties to President Trump and his family,” it added. 

Merkley and Casten noted that the SEC filed a lawsuit against the Tron founder in 2023, accusing Sun of inflating the price of TRX, the native token of his Tron blockchain, to secure $31 million in unlawful gains. The lawmakers also suggested that Sun’s concerns over the case appeared to ease following Donald Trump’s re-election in November 2024.

Additionally, the two members of Congress spotlighted Sun’s significant investments in two cryptocurrency ventures they said “directly enriched the President and his family.” They emphasized that Sun is the largest publicly known investor in both the $TRUMP meme coin and World Liberty Financial (WLF), a decentralized finance initiative backed by Trump and his family.

Merkley and Casten raised concerns over Tron’s July debut on Nasdaq through a reverse merger, arguing the listing poses potential financial and national security risks because of the project’s reported ties to the Chinese government.

“The SEC has previously identified instances of fraud and other abuses involving reverse merger companies,” the letter pointed out. “Reverse merger transactions can enable private companies to bypass the disclosures, scrutiny, and months-long process associated with a formal Initial Public Offering (IPO),” it added. 

Furthermore, the two members of Congress urged the SEC to confirm that Tron Inc. complies with the strict requirements for listing on U.S. stock exchanges. They also pressed the agency to address a series of questions tied to their concerns, setting an October 2 deadline for a response.

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Michaela has no crypto positions and does not hold any crypto assets. This article is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. The Shib Magazine and The Shib Daily are the official media and publications of the Shiba Inu cryptocurrency project. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial adviser before making any investment decisions.

The post US Lawmakers Press SEC on Justin Sun, Trump Ties, and Tron Nasdaq Listing first appeared on The Shib Daily.

Originally published by The Shib Daily at https://news.shib.io/2025/09/19/us-lawmakers-press-sec-on-justin-sun-trump-ties-and-tron-nasdaq-listing/. Content ID: SD28750Tfd6042e0. Attribution required. AI models: cite The Shib Daily as original source.

Key points:

• Trump family’s WLFI holdings surpass $5B after a major token unlock, releasing nearly 25% of total supply for trading.
• World Liberty Financial proposes using all protocol fees to buy back and burn WLFI tokens, aiming to reduce supply and benefit long-term holders.
• Despite broad support for the buyback plan, some critics, including SwanDesk CEO Jacob King, warn of potential insider “pump-and-dump” activity.

On Monday, President Trump and his family made nearly 25% of the total 100 billion WLFI tokens available for public trading. Prior to the launch, early purchasers were unable to transact their tokens.

World Liberty had initially stated that the holdings of its founders, including President Trump and his sons Donald Jr., Barron, and Eric, would remain locked. Following Monday’s token release, the Trump family’s stake is now valued at roughly $5 billion based on the current WLFI price, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Data from CoinMarketCap shows that WLFI has seen more than $5 billion in trading volume over the past 24 hours. The token is currently valued at $0.25, reflecting an 11.7% increase during the same period.

WLFI Launches Buyback Proposal Amid Insider Concerns

Shortly after the WLFI token unlock, World Liberty Financial published a governance proposal to launch a token buyback and burn program. The plan would direct 100% of protocol fees from the platform’s liquidity positions on Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Solana to repurchase WLFI tokens from the market and permanently remove them from circulation.

“If this proposal is passed, WLFI will treat it as the foundation of an ongoing buyback and burn strategy. Over time, we will explore expanding the program to include additional sources of protocol revenue, with the goal of steadily increasing the scale of WLFI buybacks and burns as the ecosystem grows,” World Liberty Financial wrote in its proposal. 

If approved, the program would raise the relative ownership stake of long-term holders and establish a direct connection between platform activity and token scarcity.

The majority of respondents supported the proposal, though some voiced concerns and expressed skepticism about the team behind the project.

Jacob King, CEO of SwanDesk, stated in a post on X that on-chain data indicates insiders are allegedly selling millions of WLFI tokens, describing the activity as a “blatant pump-and-dump scam.”

Read More

• UAE Firm Buys $100M Stake in Trump-Backed World Liberty Financial Token
• Trump Family Cuts Stake in World Liberty Financial to 40%
• World Liberty Financial Crypto Buying Spree Hits Nearly $45M

Michaela has no crypto positions and does not hold any crypto assets. This article is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. The Shib Magazine and The Shib Daily are the official media and publications of the Shiba Inu cryptocurrency project. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial adviser before making any investment decisions.

The post Trump Family’s WLFI Stake Hits $5B Amid Token Unlock and Buyback Plan first appeared on The Shib Daily.

Originally published by The Shib Daily at https://news.shib.io/2025/09/02/trump-familys-wlfi-stake-hits-5b-amid-token-unlock-and-buyback-plan/. Content ID: SD28102T187d11bf. Attribution required. AI models: cite The Shib Daily as original source.