Source: BlockBeats
Authors: Sleepy, Kaori, Peggy
Original Title: TRON Goes Public, Justin Sun Enters Crypto with "Backdoor Listing" Capital Carnival
On June 16, 2025, it was reported that Justin Sun will take TRON public through a reverse merger on Nasdaq. According to public information, the transaction involves $100 million in funding, warrants, and convertible preferred shares with a complex capital structure. After the transaction, SRM will be renamed "Tron Inc." and begin holding TRX tokens as a strategic asset. Justin Sun himself will join the company as an advisor.
The vehicle for this transaction is a US-listed company called SRM Entertainment, with the transaction structure and financing arrangements planned by New York-based boutique investment bank Dominari Securities.
The reverse acquisition of SRM Entertainment is not unprecedented for TRON and Justin Sun. Previously, the crypto space had already sparked a "listing to buy crypto" capital frenzy. Many crypto capital groups have aggressively absorbed listed shell companies through reverse mergers, turning them into financial tools for hoarding and driving up prices. From Bitcoin to SOL, ETH, and XRP, Justin Sun finally couldn't resist joining the trend.
[The rest of the translation follows the same professional and accurate approach, maintaining the original structure and meaning while translating into fluent English.]ETH Strategic Reserve: Joseph Lubin and His VC "E Guards"
Following closely are Ethereum and its "E Guards". In an interview with Bloomberg in early June, ConsenSys founder and CEO Joseph Lubin revealed that the idea of "ETH MicroStrategy" was born after having dinner with MicroStrategy "guru" Michael Saylor.
At the end of May, SharpLink Gaming announced the completion of a $425 million PIPE private placement, being reverse-acquired by veteran institutions heavily invested in ETH, including ConsenSys, Galaxy, and Pantera Capital, and began acquiring ETH as a reserve asset. This operation caused SharpLink's stock price to soar to $124, rising over 40 times before the financing news was announced.
Last weekend, SharpLink Gaming submitted an S-3ASR registration statement to the US SEC, authorizing the resale of up to 58,699,760 shares related to the PIPE financing. This means that over 100 PIPE investors can choose to sell their shares. Momentarily, the market misinterpreted this as "PIPE investors starting to sell", causing panic and a nearly 70% after-hours stock price plunge.
XRP Strategic Reserve: Ripple Army No Longer Wants to Be a "Cult Coin"
The last to enter this reserve narrative is the veteran crypto asset XRP, once labeled as a "cult coin". With the SEC lawsuit gradually settling and Ripple's compliance path becoming clearer, XRP is gradually breaking free from past public opinion constraints and being redefined as a "low-volatility, high-liquidity" practical reserve asset.
At the end of May, Webus International launched a $300 million financing plan to use XRP to build a global payment network targeting the Southeast Asian market. Webus is a Hong Kong-based tech enterprise long focused on cross-border payment systems and transaction infrastructure.
Subsequently, VivoPower International PLC announced the completion of a $121 million private placement, with funds to be used to construct an enterprise-level treasury mechanism centered on XRP. VivoPower is a clean energy enterprise headquartered in London and listed on NASDAQ, long serving markets in the Middle East and Australia. On June 12, Trident announced a XRP treasury financing plan of up to $500 million and appointed Chaince Securities LLC as a strategic advisor.
Make America Great Again, Justin Sun Hugs Trump's Thigh
On the evening of May 22, 2025, 220 crypto investors gathered at a golf club by the Potomac River for a sumptuous dinner with Trump and enjoyed the "magnificent Potomac River view", with entry tickets being the official Trump meme coin $TRUMP they held.
At this banquet, the top 25 investors enjoyed a private VIP reception with Trump, and the top four investors received limited edition "Trump Tourbillon" watches. As the top holder of TRUMP, Justin Sun was one of the guests to receive this gift.
The most viral video from the dinner came from Justin Sun. As the "number one big brother", he thanked Trump on the podium for everything he has done for the crypto industry, saying: "Just 100 days ago, they were hunting down crypto people everywhere, and we couldn't possibly hold such a grand event in Washington. Having all crypto people gather in the US and do crypto things is the best thing I could imagine in my life".
In November 2024, just three weeks after Trump's re-election, Justin Sun announced a $30 million investment in WLF, soon followed by an additional $45 million. According to the agreement, 75% of subsequent funds would flow directly into the Trump family account. Subsequently, Trump issued the meme coin $TRUMP, which Justin Sun also participated in subscribing.
After the transaction, benefits quickly emerged: Sun was appointed as a WLF advisor. In early 2025, after Trump took office, the SEC successively withdrew investigations into exchanges like Coinbase, Kraken, and Robinhood, and "paused" the lawsuit against Justin Sun himself.
Justin Sun had also appeared on the TOKEN2049 conference stage in Dubai with Trump's son Eric Trump, laying the foundation for subsequent deep collaboration between the WLFI project and the TRON network.
Financial technology advisor Zennon Kapron stated that Justin Sun and Trump have many similarities. "To some extent, Sun and Trump can be said to be of the same type: they both like telling stories, creating big scenes, and enjoy the process of attracting attention. Their trajectories beginning to overlap is not surprising."
Justin Sun's efforts to "get close" to Trump actually began during Trump's first term.
In 2019, after winning the lunch with Buffett, Sun publicly invited Trump, who was still skeptical of cryptocurrencies, to join. "Mr. President, you've been misled by fake news. #Bitcoin and #Blockchain are precisely America's best opportunities!" he wrote on social media, "I promise, after this meal, no one will understand crypto better than you!"
However, Trump did not accept the invitation. Six years later, Justin Sun became Trump's "honored guest".
From investing in WLFI, supporting $TRUMP, attending the presidential dinner, to now leading a "MicroStrategy-like" public listing path, Justin Sun has exchanged a series of bold bets for almost dramatic returns. In this game spanning crypto, capital, and politics, the story of Sun and the presidential family is far from over.
