Tron Founder Justin Sun Offers to Buy $1.1 Billion in Government-Seized Bitcoin

Tron Founder offers to buy government-seized Bitcoin at a 10% discount to offset potential market impacts.

Justin Sun, the founder of Tron (TRX), has recently announced his intention to purchase more than $1.1 billion worth of Bitcoin (BTC) that the US government is planning to sell.

Sun made this announcement to his 3.4 million Twitter followers, stating that he is willing to buy the government-seized Bitcoin at a 10% discount in order to offset any potential impacts that such a large sale could have on the cryptocurrency market. Sun’s offer to purchase the seized Bitcoin at a discount demonstrates his commitment to mitigating any potential negative effects on the market and underscores his belief in the long-term value of Bitcoin. The sale could potentially take place as early as this month.

US government has announced its intention to sell an additional 41,500 #BTC this year. To minimize the potential impact on the market, I would like to offer to purchase these BTC at a 10% discount for an OTC deal.

— H.E. Justin Sun 孙宇晨 (@justinsuntron) March 31, 2023

Sun’s announcement comes in response to recent news that the US government is planning to sell the remaining 51,351 Bitcoin that was seized from hacker James Zhong. Zhong was accused by authorities of stealing virtual assets from the now-defunct Silk Road darknet marketplace in 2012. Silk Road was often associated with illegal activities such as money laundering and drug trafficking.

New details about the seized BTC were revealed in a filing with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The filing pertains to the sentencing of Zhong, who was accused of stealing Bitcoin by manipulating Silk Road’s payment processing system through the use of fake accounts and rapid deposits and withdrawals of larger amounts. Zhong pleaded guilty to committing wire fraud in connection with the theft.

On March 14th, the government sold approximately 9,861 BTC of the total amount seized for more than $215 million, leaving about 41,491 BTC remaining. At Bitcoin’s current price of $27,588, the sale of the remaining BTC would have a value of more than $1.14 billion. The government has stated that it will not sell the remaining BTC until after Zhong is sentenced, which is scheduled for April 14th.