Justin Sun-linked firm plans to go public in US with TRX acquisition strategy: FT

A firm linked to Tron blockchain's billionaire founder, Justin Sun, intends to go public in the U.S., the Financial Times first reported on Monday.

The new company plans a reverse merger with Nasdaq-listed SRM Entertainment in a deal arranged by Dominari Securities — a New York-based boutique investment bank linked to Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, according to two people familiar with the matter, the outlet said. 

The new venture, Tron, Inc., plans to buy and hold the Tron blockchain's native cryptocurrency, TRX, adopting a similar corporate crypto acquisition model pioneered by Strategy and its co-founder, Michael Saylor. Sun has been named as an advisor to the newly formed company. The FT reported that Eric Trump is also expected to join its leadership team, though Trump later denied he had any public involvement. 

The firm plans to start with a $210 million token injection from the Tron ecosystem, the FT initially reported. In a later announcement on Monday, SRM said it entered into a $100 million equity investment deal with a private investor to initiate the TRX treasury strategy, valued at up to $210 million upon full exercise of associated warrants. The company also intends to implement a dividend policy upon the successful implementation of a TRX staking program.

"As blockchain technology gains wider adoption globally, Tron has become the industry leader for cross border settlement in U.S. dollar stablecoin. We are excited to invest into the future of the world’s next generation financial infrastructure," SRM CEO Rich Miller said. "With over 310 million international user accounts and average daily transactions YTD exceeding $20 billion, Tron strives to be the protocol of choice for onchain settlement serving the mass populations worldwide," Sun added.

There is no single for-profit company behind the Tron blockchain, and its development is now attributed to a decentralized autonomous organization model. The Tron Foundation was a non-profit entity that initially oversaw the Tron blockchain protocol, subsequently reorganized as the Tron DAO after Sun resigned from the foundation in 2021. Sun owns or has close ties with various companies in the crypto ecosystem, such as Rainberry (formerly BitTorrent, Inc.), Poloniex, and HTX. He is also linked to decentralized apps JustLend and SunSwap.

SRM Entertainment is up 275% in early Friday trading following the news, according to TradingView. TRX rose around 3% to $0.28, according to The Block's Tron price page.

Sun's growing ties with the Trump family

In 2023, the SEC charged Justin Sun and three of his companies with selling unregistered securities and market manipulation. After the new Trump administration signaled support for looser crypto rules, both sides moved in February to pause the case and explore a settlement.

Sun has since sought closer ties with the Trump family. In May, he and the 24 other largest TRUMP memecoin holders attended a banquet with the former president at Trump National Golf Club in Virginia. He also invested $75 million in the Trump family-backed decentralized finance project, World Liberty Financial.

The FT previously reported that shares in Dominari Holdings — a securities and fintech group — increased 580% in the six weeks before its February 11 filing revealed that Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump had joined its advisory board. American Bitcoin, a U.S. crypto mining firm backed by the pair, was originally a fully owned subsidiary of Dominari Holdings.

The Block reached out to Justin Sun and the Tron DAO for comment.

Updated with additional details throughout and with Eric Trump's denial of involvement.