In an era where digital currencies are making headlines and reshaping the financial landscape, one particular transaction has raised eyebrows in the cryptocurrency community. On Friday, HTX board member and billionaire trader Justin Sun made waves with a massive minting of the lesser-known stablecoin, TUSD (TrueUSD). This complex transactional activity not only caught the attention of traders but also raised concerns about the transparency and motives behind such large-scale movements.
The unexpected printing spree
Starting at 11:45 am ET on Friday, an astounding $815 million in TUSD was minted, as shown by data from Tronscan. This happened over a series of ten transactions, each targeting a new address. In a swift subsequent move, these funds made their way to the Huobi 2 hot wallet. What’s intriguing is the timing and scale of these transactions. Before this flurry of activity, the last TUSD minting event on the Tron blockchain had taken place seven days prior, making Friday’s events even more unusual.
Once the funds reached the Huobi 2 hot wallet, nine transactions saw the TUSD being channeled to an address known to be managed by Sun. The next stages of these funds’ journey are shrouded in further complexity. They were routed to an unlabeled contract named “minterproxy,” and from there, $865 million in TUSD was dispatched to another address, which subsequently burned these tokens.
The TUSD and stUSDT connection
In a twist that adds another layer to this complex narrative, the burning of the TUSD tokens nearly synchronized with the minting of an almost identical amount in stUSDT. Specifically, $865 million stUSDT tokens were minted and sent to Sun’s address. Without pausing, Sun moved these newly minted stUSDT tokens to the Tron-based lending platform, JustLend, across six transactions.
Currently, these deposits contribute to half of Sun’s mammoth $1.5 billion position on JustLend, as reflected by data from Tronscan. What makes stUSDT intriguing is its nature. It’s a staked USDT product, boasting a yield of 4.2%. The source of this yield, as claimed by the stUSDT website, originates from “high-grade short-term government bonds.” However, for US-based users, accessing the stUSDT website requires a workaround due to the geofencing of US IP addresses.
Following Sun’s deposit, JustLend’s total value locked (TVL) saw a significant bump, registering a 17% increase to reach $4.63 billion.
Controversies and clarifications
This isn’t the first time Justin Sun finds himself amidst a whirlwind of discussions and speculations. In July, the parent company of TUSD, Archblocks, through its co-founder, leveled accusations against Sun. They alleged Sun’s acquisition of TUSD was conducted through multiple shell companies. Further intensifying the scrutiny, in March, the SEC slapped Sun with charges pertaining to fraud and violations of securities laws.
Amid the growing speculation surrounding these massive stablecoin transactions, a Tether representative quickly clarified that stUSDT operates independently and doesn’t have any affiliation with Tether. Addressing the elephant in the room, Justin Sun released a statement to Blockworks, emphasizing that the large-scale transactions were connected to his fund and were not related to any Huobi business activities.
Conclusion
While this sequence of transactions has raised more questions than it has answered, it underscores the dynamic, intricate, and sometimes opaque world of cryptocurrency. As the digital finance realm grows, the industry will need to grapple with challenges surrounding transparency, accountability, and regulatory oversight.
