- Justin Sun launches $50M bounty program to recover misappropriated TUSD funds.
- Sun urges whistleblowers to provide credible information for TUSD recovery.
- FDT denies claims of financial misconduct amid ongoing investigations.
TRON ecosystem founder Justin Sun has announced a $50 million bounty program to recover funds allegedly misappropriated by First Digital Trust (FDT) and other involved parties. Their claims follow Sun’s several allegations regarding the management of the TrueUSD (TUSD) stablecoin reserves.
Details of the Bounty Program
According to Sun, the program will reward the bounties to the whistleblowers and insiders who will provide credible information that could aid in recovering the TUSD reserves. In a post to X (formerly Twitter), Sun announced the program, which will focus on whoever can reveal how reserves were allegedly torn off.
He further noted that real-time progress updates will be posted on a dedicated portal to be launched as part of the program web3bounty.io. However, Sun’s bounty program is just part of his efforts to sue back what he calls a financial lack of integrity by FDT.
He emphasized that the info provided would be very thoroughly assessed for its credibility prior to rewards being distributed. According to him, this process aims to retain the integrity of the recovery effort.
The Financial Crisis Surrounding TUSD
Issues started relating to TUSD when the company that operates TUSD, Techteryx, went cash-strapped. It was said that FDT could not account for the large amount of money Techteryx gave them to manage.
Eventually, Sun stepped in, investing money to stabilize the scenario. However, when it became apparent that FDT could not get that much back, Sun became worried and raised concerns. FDT was one of the custodians for TUSD and is now the center of the controversy.
Sun argues that FDT was wrong to assert that they mismanaged TUSD’s reserves and liquidity crisis. He has also expressed criticism of the company’s financial management, pointing to a period during the past few years when the company operated with a negative net worth. These concerns have raised questions about how FDT could keep up with the effective management of such large sums of public assets.
FDT’s Response to Allegations
On the other hand, in response to the allegations, FDT denied any wrongdoing. The company also confirmed that it is solvent and fully capable of fulfilling the intent of stablecoin issuance and redemption. FDT even noted that the issues presented with TUSD are ongoing in a court case.
In addition, the company said that much of Sun’s accusations are part of a greater smear campaign. Despite such claims, the situation around FDT ended with temporarily de-pegging its FDUSD stablecoin.
While its de-pegging from 1 Dollar was concerning, FDT has redeemed several tokens fine since. Hong Kong regulators are still looking into the matter as the investigation continues.
Ongoing Investigations and Legal Action
Hong Kong regulators have also caught Sun’s claims. Sun has given evidence to Hong Kong’s Legislative Council and other appropriate authorities in order to raise public awareness of potential corruption.
He is confident justice will prevail once he presents the evidence he has. Meanwhile, FDT announced its plans to take legal action against Sun and accused him of compromising its reputation.
