Skip to main content

Justin Sun: A Colorful Crypto Hawker or Surprising Business Savant?

Although he is outspoken, raucous, and bombastic when it comes to his public persona, Sun’s questionable publicity stunts could be part and parcel of his strategy for catapulting Tron into the spotlight and capitalizing on crypto’s momentum.

Bombastic Approach May Underpin Tron’s Success

It’s tough to take Tron’s Justin Sun seriously. His endless shilling on Twitter and use of celebrity endorsements of the likes of Lindsey Lohan are certainly not helping him cultivate an image of blockchain savvy.

Yet, despite his controversial approach, something more interesting is brewing beneath the surface. Even with his limited technological abilities compared to Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin and Polkadot’s Gavin Wood, Sun has managed to position himself as one of the most successful individuals within the field.

With his brash style of sucking all the oxygen out of the room with his comments or ideas, no matter good or bad, Justin Sun has positioned himself as a mighty successful cryptopreneur. While he is still frowned upon by many within the community for his hollow attempts to stay in the spotlight, there is no doubt that some of his business acquisitions and partnerships have been strokes of brilliance.

Is Sun a More Potent Business Force Than Previously Thought?

Yes, it might sound questionable to be talking about taking Justin Sun more seriously, but in truth, a closer look at his business dealings tells us a starkly different tale. Starting with his $120 million acquisition of Bittorrent in 2018, Sun was on the receiving end of a wave of negative publicity.

As one of the earliest decentralized protocols that arrived long before cryptocurrency, BitTorrent’s global status was still a feather in Sun’s cap given its name recognition and seamless fit within the crypto ecosystem. Eventually, Sun went on to list Bittorrent Token (BTT) on Tron’s blockchain. It turned out to be a smart move. BTT has since rocketed to the 31st most valuable coin by capitalization, with its fully diluted market capitalization now standing over $7 billion.

Beyond this acquisition, Sun’s status as a part-owner of exchange Poloniex, despite his initial denials, is a testament to his ambitions. While it may not align with his public statements of “decentralizing the web,” given that Poloniex is a centralized exchange, it follows other similar moves of seeking to centralize more services under his umbrella.

Tron’s acquisition of Steemit was even more controversial after it was posited that Sun conspired with major exchanges to remove node validators on the dPOS blockchain and replace them with his own. This move effectively centralized a blockchain-based decentralized social media platform. However, despite the uproar and number of users that abandoned the platform, since the February 2020 acquisition, STEEM tokens have nearly risen nearly five-fold.

The latest announcement of integration with DAO Maker reflects another serious move to expand the Tron ecosystem of blockchain-based services. The recently unveiled strategic partnership will see DAO Maker bring all of its cross-chain incubation, fundraising, and growth-oriented services onto Tron. By bringing a retail-focused investing initiative onboard, Sun shows that he intends to make Tron a hyper-competitive chain relative to Ethereum and Polkadot despite its more limited technological acumen.

Sun The Businessman and Centralization Architect

Most of these moves directly conflict with web decentralization activities, as evidenced by the testimony of present and former employees, which highlights some of Sun’s more nefarious efforts to block competition. Yet, despite the ridicule, Sun is still riding high. He may not be blockchain’s best advocate, but Justin Sun has undoubtedly identified it as a money-making opportunity and leveraged it as such as part of his unbridled ambition to rise through crypto’s ranks.

So what do you think – Justin Sun, a crypto hawker or business savant? Let us know in the comments section below.



from Bitcoin News https://ift.tt/2PfZnWG

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Deep Web Roundup: Dream Adds Monero and Bitcoin Tumbler “Chip Mixer” Launches

The darknet has been quiet of late, which is the way it’s meant to be. No news means no mega busts, honeypots, or mass market shutdowns. Even when it’s out of the spotlight though, the deep web is quietly making news, whether trialling the latest privacy coins or the newest coin mixers that promise to restore a little of the privacy that’s being stripped away from bitcoin users on a daily basis. Also read: U.S. Agency ICE Conducts Investigations That Exploit Blockchain Activity The Battle for Privacy Heats Up Privacy is all relative, but of late there’s been relatively little privacy to be enjoyed by bitcoin users. Blockchain monitoring software is becoming more sophisticated and more common, with U.S. law enforcement agencies using it to profile and hunt down deep web users. Chip Mixer is a relatively new bitcoin tumbler that’s designed to restore some of that privacy. Available on both the clearnet and darknet, the service uses a variety of techniques to obfuscate blockchain m...

International Crypto Exchange Luno Adds Bitcoin Cash Trading

Luno exchange has added bitcoin cash trading to the platform following feedback from its client base. BCH is now only the third cryptocurrency available for trading on the exchange, in addition to BTC and ETH , but more options could be on the way once Luno determines that they are credible enough. Also Read: Bitflyer Adds Bitcoin Cash Trading Across Europe and the US Luno Adds Bitcoin Cash Trading Luno, the London-headquartered company formerly known as Bitx, recently announced that bitcoin cash was made available on its cryptocurrency exchange. Starting from Monday, September 23, customers at Luno are now able to store, buy and sell BCH on the platform. The reason given for adding BCH to the exchange is feedback from users in developing markets that convinced Luno to expand their offering from previously just BTC and ETH . Marcus Swanepoel, CEO of Luno, said , “We are in a new and exciting financial era. Developing economies are leading the large-scale adoption and appli...

Ombudsman Receives Complaints About Crypto Investments in Spain

The Spanish ombudsman has been receiving complaints about cryptocurrency and how some Spanish citizens investing in these vehicles have lost everything. In his annual report, Angel Gabilondo recognized the rise of cryptocurrencies as a new problem due to the little or no regulation crypto sees in the country. In the same way, the EU has also warned about these assets recently. Spanish Ombudsman Gives His Take on Crypto Angel Gabilondo, the Spanish ombudsman, has given his take regarding cryptocurrencies and the effects they have on citizens investing in some of these projects. Gabilondo said in his yearly report that cryptocurrencies have become “a new problem” during the year examined, with many people having lost all of their funds invested. The report states : Cryptocurrency exchange companies or platforms are not regulated in the legal system, are not subject to any public supervision system, nor do they benefit from deposit guarantee systems. The affected users that sought...