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Huobi Under Scrutiny: Allegations Of Insolvency & Financial Irregularities Emerge

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Adam Cochran, the Managing Partner at Cinneamhain Ventures, has cast doubt on the financial stability of the Tron blockchain founder, Justin Sun, and his majority-owned cryptocurrency exchange, Huobi. Cochran alleges that Huobi may owe its customers an astonishing $2.4 billion, with questionable reserves to cover these customer deposits.

Huobi’s Reported Holdings Under Scrutiny

The accusations surfaced through a series of tweets by Cochran, who asserted that the exchange’s reported holdings are inconsistent with the data available through DeFi analytics. 

Cochran’s thread began with a bold statement, “Oh btw Huobi is probably insolvent again,” and raised significant concerns about the exchange’s financial health.

According to Cochran, Huobi claimed to possess approximately $200 million worth of Ethereum (ETH). Still, DeFiLlama data indicated holdings of less than $113 million, even after including wrapped ETH (wETH) and synthetic ETH (sETH). 

Furthermore, Huobi asserted that its users held $624 million in Tether (USDT), but DeFiLlama data revealed only $119 million USDT within the exchange. The remainder was allegedly held in a novel form known as “stUSDT.”

Cochran highlighted a peculiar aspect of stUSDT, allowing users to stake USDT or TrueUSD (TUSD) to earn stUSDT. Normally, staking operations should result in a burn, effectively removing assets from circulation. 

However, he claimed that funds from staking activities were flowing into Justin Sun’s personal addresses instead, raising suspicions about the exchange’s intentions.

Moreover, Huobi might be utilizing the underlying USDT assets to support its DeFi lending platform, JustLend, and possibly engaging in TUSD buybacks on Binance. 

This complex web of financial operations, combined with the creation of stUSDT and JustLend, led Cochran to estimate that Justin Sun might be indebted to users across the Huobi and Tron ecosystems to the tune of $2.4 billion, all while keeping users in the dark about the precarious financial situation.

The allegations raised by Cochran prompted a range of responses from the cryptocurrency community. Some questioned the accuracy of DeFi analytics tools, especially when dealing with multiple wallets, hardware wallets, and bank reserves.

However, he clarified that Huobi had reported its own assets and self-reported wallet data to DeFiLlama, suggesting that these numbers should match but were off by hundreds of millions of dollars.

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TRON: Justin Sun’s Legal Battle Takes an Unexpected Turn

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In a dramatic turn of events, TRON’s founder, Justin Sun, has been granted an extended lifeline in his legal battle against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC]. The court’s decision has given Sun until December 8, 2023, to explore potential resolutions to the SEC’s allegations, thus temporarily lifting the looming threat that has shadowed the cryptocurrency pioneer.

It all began several months ago when the US regulator served legal notices to three of Sun’s wholly-owned entities: Tron Foundation, BitTorrent Foundation, and Rainberry. The allegations were centered on the unauthorized sale of cryptocurrencies, TRX, and BitTorrent [BTT]. According to the SEC’s lawsuit, Sun was accused of orchestrating manipulative wash trading of TRX, a tactic designed to artificially inflate demand and maintain TRX’s market price.

In addition to these allegations, Sun faced charges of deceiving investors through misleading claims on social media, particularly in February 2021. The SEC contended that Sun enlisted the services of celebrities with substantial social media followings to promote unregistered offerings while concealing their compensation. Notable figures such as Lindsay Lohan, Akon, Ne-Yo, Soulja Boy, and others found themselves implicated in this complex legal web.

The SEC further asserted that Sun’s alleged scheme had generated illicit profits totaling $31 million at the expense of unsuspecting investors, all achieved through the controversial practice of wash trading. Gary Gensler, Chair of the SEC, emphasized the inherent risks faced by investors when crypto asset securities are traded without proper disclosure.

TRON’s Global Revival Plans

Unfazed by the SEC’s accusations, Sun took to Twitter to dismiss the civil complaint, asserting its lack of substance. He affirmed his commitment to building a more decentralized financial system through the Tron Foundation, maintaining that the SEC’s actions were unwarranted.

However, the recent court order has introduced a glimmer of hope into Sun’s legal battle. His legal counsel has argued convincingly for the extension, citing “good cause” for the postponement. This reprieve couldn’t have come at a more critical juncture for the Tron ecosystem, which is in the midst of an ambitious global expansion.

As part of its tenth-anniversary celebration, the cryptocurrency exchange Huobi has announced a rebranding effort, rechristening itself as HTX. This symbolic name change signifies the platform’s origins [“H” for Huobi], its unwavering commitment to the TRON network [“T” for TRON], and its core function as a cryptocurrency exchange [“X” for exchange].

With the extended timeline, Justin Sun now has room to strategize and potentially negotiate a resolution with the SEC. The Tron ecosystem’s future, as well as the broader cryptocurrency landscape, hangs in the balance, awaiting the outcome of this high-stakes legal showdown.

TRON’s Quantum Leap: 2023 Q2 Report Unveils Astonishing 300% Growth

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TRON (TRX) has showcased re­markable growth in key metrics during the­ second quarter of 2023, propelle­d by significant advancements within its ecosyste­m. The successful launch of the BitTorre­nt bridge, along with the impleme­ntation of Stake 2.0 and integration of TRX liquid staking and the de­centralized resource­ marketplace, have playe­d a pivotal role in driving the network’s impre­ssive surge.

Positive Impact On Revenue: TRON TRX’s Growth

According to a report publishe­d by Messari, TRON experie­nced significant growth in daily average active­ accounts, new accounts, and transactions. These numbe­rs saw respective incre­ases of 14%, 13.4%, and 28.9%. Notably, these figure­s correspond with the impleme­ntation of key developme­nts such as the BitTorrent bridge and Stake­ 2.0.

The ne­twork’s increased activity had a positive impact on re­venue, resulting in a note­worthy 11.6% growth in TRX (22.2% in USD terms) from the previous quarte­r. As a direct result of this reve­nue increase, a substantial amount of TRX was burne­d, providing support for its value even whe­n other major L1 tokens expe­rienced a stagnant or declining marke­t.

In the se­cond quarter, TRX demonstrated supe­rior performance compared to most othe­r L1 tokens. Its market cap increase­d by 14.7%, while other major L1s expe­rienced an average­ decline of 23%. This remarkable­ achievement can be­ attributed to the network’s de­dicated efforts in expanding its de­centralized finance (De­Fi) sector.

The inte­gration of TRX liquid staking and the resource marke­tplace successfully enhance­d user liquidity and access to free­ resources, there­by increasing the network’s appe­al to DeFi users and deve­lopers.

Furthermore­, TRON has continuously enhanced its network functionality through the­ introducing Stake 2.0 and subsequent update­s. Stake 2.0, a superior staking model, not only improve­s resource manageme­nt but also offers users more fle­xibility when it comes to unstaking options. These­ advancements have significantly bolste­red engageme­nt within the ecosystem.

Despite its progress, TRON faced challenges from regulatory scrutiny. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleged unregistered sales of crypto asset securities on several exchanges, including TRX. However, TRX finished the quarter with a 14.7% increase in value, reaching a market cap of $6.9 billion.

Looking ahead, TRON’s roadmap remains focused on technical integrations, such as Apollo, Star Trek, and Eternity, aimed at enhancing network functionality. The team also continues to invest in ecosystem development to attract more developers, applications, and users.

However, TRON’s Q2 performance demonstrated remarkable growth in various aspects of its ecosystem. Its ability to adapt and innovate will be crucial for its long-term success as the cryptocurrency market evolves.

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TRON (TRX) Takes Off: 24 Hours Trading Volume Soars 255% – Here’s Why

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TRON (TRX) is making waves in the market, as it recently achieved a remarkable surge of almost 12% in the weekly chart. The cryptocurrency also witnessed a robust boost of approximately 255% in its 24-hour trading volume, signifying a noteworthy development. 

Source: CoinMarketcap

This impressive gain suggests a potential shift in momentum for TRX. Additionally, the network usage of TRON is witnessing a notable increase, indicating a growing interest and heightened activity surrounding this digital currency.

According to the data from CoinMarketcap, the current trading price of TRX stands at $0.08311, demonstrating a substantial surge of approximately 9% within the past 24 hours. Earlier today, the coin reached its highest point of the day, peaking at $0.086.

Source: CoinMarketcap

Notably, the performance of TRX over the course of the week has shown significant improvement. At the beginning of the week, the coin was valued at $0.07548, steadily progressing toward crucial resistance levels as the week unfolded. 

As a result, the current market capitalization has also experienced an increase of around 8.70% within 24-hour period. Based on all technical indicators, the prevailing sentiment is bullish; however, the Fear & Greed Index currently reads 32.17, reflecting extreme fear.

As of June 3rd, 2023, all technical analysis indicators suggest a bullish outlook for TRX’s price predictions. Nevertheless, certain indicators also indicate bearish signals, resulting in overall bullish sentiment.

Over the past 30 days, the cryptocurrency has witnessed a notable increase of 18.12%. Consequently, a slight recovery is expected in the upcoming month. By the end of June, its value is projected to surge by 110.18%, reaching approximately $0.17.

TRON (TRX) Price Driving Factor

The recent surge in the price of TRX can be attributed to several significant network developments. Firstly, the Founder of TRON, H.E. Justin Sun, tweeted about TRON’s expansion by going live on the Ethereum blockchain through the utilization of the BitTorrent bridge.

This expansion allows TRX to be fully accessible within the Ethereum ecosystem, enhancing its interoperability. The contract address “0x50327c6c5a14dcade707abad2e27eb517df87ab5” represents TRX’s presence within Ethereum.

Additionally, on June 1st, the network announced that they had surpassed 10 million daily transactions. This milestone reflects the growing usage and adoption of the TRON network, with TRONICS (participants within the TRON community) being acknowledged for their contribution to this achievement.

Well, these recent developments have sparked investor enthusiasm and confidence in TRX, leading to a rise in its price. The increased accessibility, interoperability, and growing transaction volume within the network demonstrate its potential and attract attention from both existing and new investors.

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TRON Powers Up: Reports Impressive Q1 Growth Amid DeFi Expansion

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TRON, a decentralized platform that uses blockchain technology to support smart contracts and decentralized applications, has reported a significant growth in Q1 2023. According to a report from MessariCrypto, TRON’s market cap has grown 18.8% QoQ, following the broader market trend. 

The dynamic energy model and increased energy requirements led to greater revenue generation (+65.5% in TRX) and, therefore, the burn of TRX. The platform has also initiated developments to expand DeFi, including liquid staking and a decentralized resource marketplace.

Challenges Facing TRON’s Ecosystem

TRON is positioning itself in AI by partnering with Oraichain and launching a $100 million AI development fund. However, the SEC announced several lawsuits, stating that the BTT and TRX tokens were “offered and sold as a security, specifically as an investment contract.” The platform has a resource model based on distributing bandwidth and energy to stakers. 

As long as stakers have acquired enough resources, they can use those resources to transfer tokens and execute smart contracts for free. Users must cover transaction fees if they utilize more computing power than their resources.

Despite declining account activity, average daily transactions grew by 7.7% to ~7 million over Q1. Smart contracts were triggered, and TRX transfers continued dominating transaction activity on the network, making up 88% of all transactions. 

TRON’s circulating market cap has increased by 18.1% QoQ, suggesting a more favorable valuation. Greater revenue translated to a substantial amount of TRX burned, seeing as 100% of transaction fees in TRX are burned. The platform burned ~1.4 billion TRX and generated ~455 million, leading to a deflation rate of ~1% during Q1.

TRON is also making strides in the stablecoin landscape, with USDT maintaining 95% of the stablecoin value on the network. Its place in the stablecoin landscape remains substantial. It is second only to Ethereum in terms of the market cap of hosted stablecoins, holding over $43 billion at the end of Q1, up from ~$33 billion (+30%) QoQ.

Developer engagement has yet to catch up to the platform’s growth strategy. According to Electric Capital’s Developer report, full-time developers are relatively small in number but have remained stable at 16 over the last year. 

The platform aims to grow its developer community through its continued seasons of Grand Hackathons and strategic funds like the AI development fund and the $1 billion TRON DAO Ecosystem Fund.

Despite TRON’s progress toward its long-term goals and continued adoption, the network still faces challenges. However, it remains strong and continues to empower DeFi and collaborate on AI projects with Oraichain.

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TRON Emerges As Dominant Force In Iran’s Crypto Economy, Says TRM Labs Report

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According to a recent report by TRM Labs, a firm that specializes in monitoring public transaction data, it has been revealed that Iran’s cryptocurrency economy heavily relies on TRON (TRX). 

The research shows that in 2022, TRON accounted for a staggering 65% of the incoming crypto volume on Iranian exchanges. This information sheds light on the popularity of TRON in Iran’s digital currency market and highlights its significant role in the country’s crypto economy.

The research further found that Iran’s top crypto exchange, Nobitex, handled most transfers worth $2.6 billion. Local exchanges only got 0.08% of illegal volume, below the 2022 global average. Despite sanctions, Iran’s crypto use surged with almost $3 billion incoming volume in 2022.

Iranian exchanges comply with the KYC standards of major global exchanges. The research revealed that Nobitex had 87% of the crypto volume in Iran in 2022. Iranian exchanges handled 60% of funds from non-Iranian services. Global crypto exchanges accounted for 80% of sending volume and 66% of receiving volume in Iran in 2022.

DeFi usage was under 1% for sending and receiving volumes. Cash-to-crypto businesses were only 0.01% of the volume sent to Iranian exchanges in 2022, primarily from crypto ATMs in Europe and North America. TRM Labs found Iranians using VPNs and fake IDs to get around exchange compliance systems.

Using VPNs may disrupt compliance checks. Hence, domestic Iranian exchanges do not promote its usage. However, Iranian crypto enthusiasts on the internet suggest using VPNs to carry out transactions involving significant amounts of crypto.

In spite of the persistent effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, civil unrest, and global sanctions, TRM Labs’ 2022 report on Iran’s cryptocurrency economy revealed that Iranians continued to adopt cryptocurrencies.

Notably, the report highlighted the dominance of the TRON blockchain and Nobitex exchange in the Iranian market and the KYC controls employed by Iranian exchanges. 

TRON Leads Daily Transaction Volume

In a recent update from the TRON community, it has been reported that TRX has taken the lead in daily transaction volume, surpassing major cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Dogecoin. 

This development showcases TRON’s growing popularity and adoption in the cryptocurrency market. TRON’s achievement of this significant milestone is a clear indication of the platform’s ability to handle large volumes of transactions efficiently. 

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TRON Sinks to Two-Week-Low After Binance.US Announce Delisting

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TRON [TRX] fell by over 7% hitting a two-week low after Binance.US discloses plans to delist the token. In the announcement post, the US trading platform stated that it would remove TRX and Spell [SPELL] on April 18, 2023.

Binance.US in its blog said that it periodically reviews each digital asset to ensure that it continues to meet the standard in a rapidly evolving industry.

“When a digital asset no longer meets our high standards, or industry circumstances change, we conduct a more in-depth review of the affected asset and assess whether further action is necessary [i.e. delisting],” it added.

Although the trading company did not specifically say which evaluation criteria the aforementioned tokens fell short of, it listed a number of factors that had a role in the decision to delist the tokens.

Some of these are- changes in a digital asset token’s risk profile and regulatory standing in the United States. evidence of unethical/fraudulent conduct or negligence etc.

It should come as no surprise, judging from the listed factors, that one of the delisted tokens recently came under regulatory fire.

The US SEC has filed a lawsuit against three firms led by Justin Sun, TRON Foundation, BitTorrent Foundation, and Rainberry for allegedly marketing and airdropping TRX and BTT as unregistered securities.

In the press release, the regulator alleged the defendants “fraudulently manipulat[ed]” TRX’s secondary market through an “extensive wash trading” scheme.

Sun, former Grenada’s ambassador to the World Trade Organization, also lost his diplomatic rank after the party that granted him the post was ousted from power in June 2022.

Recently the Tron founder was caught amid rumors of arrest after his arrival in Hong Kong.

TRON Founder’s Reply To Arrest Rumors

Crypto YouTuber Ben Armstrong who goes by BitBoy posted a tweet about the alleged arrest, triggering a reaction from the crypto community.

The news quickly gained traction and was covered by the media. Sun responded with the signal “4”, which has grown in popularity in the crypto world, of late.

Binance CEO Chanpeng “CZ” Zhao added his two cents, writing the same number in response to the rumor. CZ made use of the number “4” to encourage people to “ignore FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt), fake news, attacks, etc.”

TRON’s Justin Sun Urges TRX As Legal Tender In 5 Nations

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The founder of the TRON ecosystem revealed his intention of legalizing the asset in five nations by this year. According to a Twitter post, the crypto entrepreneur stated this was just the beginning of the wider adoption of cryptocurrency in general.

He then called the plan “ambitious” and is “confident” of turning it into a reality.

Sun, who is also the WTO ambassador of Grenada has emphasized the importance of looking beyond the U.S. for TRX adoption.

“The US is just one country, and while it may be a major player in the crypto world, it’s not the only one.”

Doubling down on the significance of adopting TRON as legal tender, he wrote if the asset is globally accepted, the U.S. will eventually follow suit.

Therefore, as per Sun, the need of the hour is to work on an international scale and forged alliances with governments and businesses across the planet.

Here’s How Being A Legal Tender Will Boost TRON

Sun claimed that the adoption of TRX as a medium of exchange across borders will improve the “legitimacy and usage” of the cryptocurrency. He wrote:

“When a government recognizes a digital currency as legal tender, it gives a sense of trust and security to the general public, making it more likely to invest and use it.”

This, in turn, would attract more businesses to start accepting TRX as a means of payment, thereby boosting the cryptocurrency’s usage, Sun explained.

The latest news comes after the TRON Founder, revealed on January 24 that St. Maarten is eyeing to embrace the asset.

Saint Martin, also known as the Lesser Antilles, or is a group of islands in the northern Caribbean Sea that are part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

For those new, TRON is a decentralized open-source blockchain network that enables users to easily communicate with one another and gives them access to a wide range of entertainment apps, such as images, movies, and games.

Recently, its founder Sun was revealed to be in charge of Singapore’s Huobi exchange, and not simply as a member of the Global Advisory Board.

The Singapore-based crypto exchange released a blog addressing some of the rumors that were circulating at the time, TronWeekly reported.

TRON [TRX] Drops Over 10% Amidst Huobi & Justin Sun FUD

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Justin Sun, the founder of TRON and a Huobi adviser, finally acknowledged Huobi layoffs in a text message to Reuters. Its native token, TRX slid down by over 10% in a span of just 2 days and is currently trading at $0.05.

Twitter was rife with speculation on the crypto exchange Huobi after reportedly shutting down internal communications.

This led to community members urging users to withdraw funds with the reasoning that angry staff might resort to “directly rug away user assets or programmers add backdoor Trojan horses” claiming the practice was “not protected by domestic laws.”

All these prompted Huobi consultant Sun to initially dismiss rumors about unsatisfied employees and state that Huobi will “completely respect the legal demands of local employees.”

Additionally, he refuted the reports of alleged insolvency, saying that the exchange’s business growth was “good” and the “security of users’ assets will always be fully protected.”

It all began when Wu blockchain in Dec. 2022 reported that Huobi canceled year-end bonuses and was preparing to cut up to half of its 1,200 staff citing insiders.

Wu, further claimed that several employees objected to the decision to switch from currency to stablecoins for the payment of salaries.

With regards to Sun, the TRON founder recently cashed out $198 million in crypto via a stablecoin issuer, Circle. On-chain data tracker Lookonchain, highlighted the transaction, noting that Sun moved the funds across multiple chains and outlets.

Community members were startled and believed Sun was likely aware of a forthcoming market event.

Even Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao had to chime in by stating that Sun’s recent inflows were perhaps part of deploying BUSD on the Tron network [TRX] or cross-chain swaps.

The TRON founder later clarified in a Chinese tweet that the cash distribution between exchanges was purely routine business collaboration.

Mystery Surrounding TRON Founder’s Valkyrie Investment

Additionally, a number of sources have revealed that the TRON founder, who is a significant client of Valkyrie Digital Assets, has stashed tokens in its vault.

To be more precise, it appears that the funds are in one of Valkyrie’s separately managed account [SMA] offerings, which are intended to introduce cryptocurrency to investors who are more accustomed to TradFi investing vehicles.

This raises the question of whether Sun’s excessive holdings, which are registered in Valkyrie, are an attempt to hide what the market believes to be institutional demand for cryptocurrencies.

After Ethereum, TRON Welcomes Tether’s Chinese Yuan CNHT

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TRON became the second blockchain to onboard Tether’s offshore Chinese Yuan CNHT after Ethereum. The token will debut first on the Bitfinex exchange enabling its users to deposit and withdraw CNHT using the Tron network transport layer from the platform, the blog read. 

TRON founder and crypto billionaire Justin Sun hailed the launch calling it a “big milestone for crypto and Asia community.”

CNH was founded in 2019 and is linked to the offshore Chinese yuan. With the latest support, TRON is now the second blockchain on which it is possible to acquire, trade, and hold CNH, which was initially only available as an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum network.

One of the four stablecoins that Tether supports, along with others tied to the U.S. dollar [USD], Euro [EUR], and Mexican peso [MXN], is CNH.

Speaking on the latest development, Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Tether stated,

We’re excited to bring CNH₮ to the Tron ecosystem. At a time when the crypto market is experiencing immense turmoil, we believe that the best way forward is to keep building. Things are business as usual at Tether and we hope our continued growth and expansion will inspire others to keep going as well.

The announcement has hardly put any impact on TRON’s value which is down by over 40% over the course of 12 months. The token is presently the 16th largest crypto asset in terms of overall valuation with a market cap of $4.8 billion.

On the other hand, the asset performed comparatively better in stablecoin inflow last month.

TRON Hit $1B Stablecoin Inflow

According to DeFi TVL aggregator, DeFiLlama, the Tron decentralized platform observed an inflow of $1 billion USDT for the past two weeks.

As seen in the graph above, the most notable day in the aforementioned period was November 18, when the blockchain witnessed a surge in stablecoin input. The other times the network saw peaks were on November 24 and November 28.

At first look, this development suggested that investors are moving forward and had a great deal of faith in the project.

But, many quickly surmised that this might not have been the truth and that Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, was actually behind it all in an effort to increase TRX liquidity.