Blockchain protocol Chain is considering legal action against TRON founder Justin Sun after he accused the company of market manipulation.
Chain, a blockchain firm backed by over $40 million from investors including Pantera Capital and Citigroup,has threatened legal action against Sun following allegations of market manipulation.
In an X post on Jan. 24, Sun claimed that Chain was using “high leverage and contract that could cause serious harm to many exchange users.”
XCN @chain is currently engaging in significant market manipulation. They are using high leverage and contract that could cause serious harm to many exchange users. I recommend that major exchanges pay close attention to this risk. We will report their illegal activities to the…
— H.E. Justin Sun 🍌 (@justinsuntron) January 24, 2025
While Sun did not provide details about the alleged manipulations, he warned crypto exchanges to exercise caution and stated that he would “report their illegal activities to the SEC and DOJ for further investigation.” He also tagged major exchanges, including Coinbase, Kraken, and Bybit, urging them to take action.
Chain rejects market manipulation accusations
Chain was quick to respond, rejecting Sun’s allegations. In a follow-up post, the company stated that it is “not actively engaged in ANY trading of XCN, nor involved in ANY market manipulation directly or indirectly.” Chain further clarified that the XCN token is managed by OnyxDAO and announced plans to explore “legal remedies” against Sun over his claims.
The Chain team is not actively engaged in ANY trading of XCN, nor involved in ANY market manipulation directly or indirectly. We take these allegations extremely seriously and are exploring legal remedies against @JustinSun. XCN is managed by @OnyxDAO and not by @Chain.
— Chain (@Chain) January 24, 2025
Soon after Chain responded, Sun fired off another X post. This time, the TRON founder tagged OnyxDAO and called on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice to look into the situation. The accusations came right after the XCN token saw a big price jump, as its price soared 149% in one day and nearly 400% in a week, as crypto.news reported earlier.
Founded in 2014, Chain has raised over $40 million in funding from Khosla Ventures, Pantera Capital, Capital One, Citigroup, Fiserv, Nasdaq, Orange, and Visa, the firm claims on its website. In 2018, Stellar acquired Chain to form Interstellar, a commercial arm of the Stellar Foundation. In 2020, Chain was re-acquired.
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