tl;dr
TRON founder Justin Sun has filed a federal lawsuit against Bloomberg, alleging the media company intends to break confidentiality agreements by revealing detailed information about his cryptocurrency holdings. Sun argues this disclosure could expose him to theft, hacking, kidnapping, and physical h...
TRON founder Justin Sun has filed a federal lawsuit against Bloomberg, accusing the media company of intending to break confidentiality agreements by revealing detailed information about his cryptocurrency holdings. Sun argues that such disclosure could expose him to serious risks including theft, hacking, kidnapping, and physical harm. The lawsuit, initiated in Delaware federal court, aims to prevent Bloomberg from publishing the precise amounts of Sun's crypto assets, which he provided solely for wealth verification in the Billionaires Index.
Sun contends that Bloomberg had promised to keep this financial data strictly confidential. The complaint highlights the irreversible nature of cryptocurrency transactions, stressing the limited recourse available if funds are compromised through coercion, hacking, or scams. According to the lawsuit, Bloomberg journalist Muyao Shen approached Sun’s team in February 2025 to include him in the Billionaires Index, which ranks the world’s 500 wealthiest individuals. Initially hesitant due to concerns about his substantial crypto assets, Sun agreed after Bloomberg assured confidentiality.
David Gu, General Counsel of LBank, commented on the delicate balance between public interest and privacy, noting that while transparency about finances of prominent figures can be important, financial details must be disclosed responsibly to protect security and contractual obligations. Bloomberg journalist Tom Sloan reportedly reassured Sun’s team via secure Telegram chats that wallet addresses and related files would be tightly controlled and accessible only to specific staff.
The lawsuit points out that revealing detailed crypto holdings deviates from Bloomberg’s usual practice of listing billionaire assets either as lump sums or per public statements. Legal filings warn that exposing exact amounts could allow malicious actors to identify wallet addresses through address clustering techniques, increasing vulnerability to so-called "wrench attacks"—violent coercion methods documented in Bloomberg’s own articles. This year alone, 51 such attacks have been reported worldwide, including brutal kidnappings in France and an armed extortion incident in Uganda involving a crypto founder.
Despite these risks, Bloomberg reportedly intends to publish Sun’s crypto details imminently. In response, Sun demands a jury trial and seeks reimbursement for court costs and attorney fees, striving to safeguard his financial privacy against what he perceives as an unjust breach.