Justin Sun, the Chinese crypto billionaire and the founder of the TRON blockchain network, has made the majority of his fortune from crypto investments.
In 2024, Justin Sun’s net worth most likely exceeds $2.4 billion.
While he is most popularly known for founding the TRON network, Sun’s ventures extend beyond this business, as he has invested in plenty of other companies and assets in the crypto industry.
How Much is Justin Sun Worth in 2024?
- Estimated net worth: Over $2.4 billion
- Major sources of wealth: TRON network, Bitcoin holdings ($210.78 million – $1.2+ billion), Ethereum holdings ($408.56 million)
- Acquisitions: BitTorrent ($140 million), Poloniex (undisclosed), HTX (undisclosed share)
- Additional assets: NFTs ($25.5 million), Art collection ($100 million), Gamestop shares ($10 million)
- Known for strategic crypto investments and acquisitions
Justin Sun’s Net Worth: Full Breakdown
Justin Sun’s net worth is rather difficult to estimate.
The Chinese entrepreneur is undoubtedly one of the richest people in the world of blockchain and cryptocurrencies.
Unsurprisingly, little is known about his private accounts and he most likely has several crypto wallets with undisclosed holdings in different currencies.
Our estimated net worth covers his known cryptocurrency holdings and other assets we listed below.
Keep in mind: His actual net worth is most likely significantly higher considering that he holds an unknown stake in different businesses and probably has more private assets and crypto investments.
| Asset or Income Source | Contribution to Net Worth |
| BitTorrent acquistion | $140 million |
| HTX acquisition | Undisclosed share of $1 billion stake |
| BTC holdings | $210.78 million – $1.2+ billion |
| ETH holdings | $408.56 million |
| BTT holdings | $109 million |
| USDJ holdings | $90 million |
| TRX holdings | $230+ million |
| USDD holdings | $280+ million |
| NFTs | $25.5 million |
| Art collection | $100 million |
| Gamestop shares | $10 million |
| AMC and silver holdings | $ 2million |
| Lunch with Buffet | -$4.57 million |
| Total Net Worth | $2.4 billion |
Values based on exchange rate at the time of writing
6 Fun Facts about Justin Sun Founder of TRON
- Founded TRON network in 2017.
- Acquired BitTorrent for $140 million.
- Paid $4.57 million for a lunch with Warren Buffett.
- Appointed Grenada’s WTO ambassador in 2021.
- Collects expensive art, including Picasso and Warhol pieces.
- Bought Poloniex crypto exchange in 2019.
Latest News & Controversies
Justin Sun has recently faced significant challenges. In November 2023, his crypto exchange Poloniex was hacked, losing approximately $125 million. Around the same time, HTX (formerly known as Huobi), another exchange tied to Sun, was also targeted, with hackers siphoning $100 million. Despite these security breaches, Sun assured users that customer assets were safe, with both exchanges covering the losses and resuming most of their withdrawal services.
Sun’s involvement in these exchanges and his high-profile acquisitions, such as BitTorrent, have drawn both admiration and criticism. Earlier controversies include a lawsuit from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2023, accusing Sun and his companies of unregistered securities offerings and manipulative trading practices, charges which Sun has denied.
Despite these setbacks, Sun remains a central figure in the blockchain space, continuing to invest heavily in the sector and maintaining a significant influence on TRON’s development and other ventures.
Early Life and Education
Justin Sun was born on July 30, 1990, in Xining, China. He studied for his Bachelor’s degree in History at Peking University, followed by his East Asia Studies program at the University of Pennsylvania, building up his entrepreneurial prowess from an early age.
Sun graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2013, and enrolled at Hupan University in China to study in the entrepreneurship program created by Alibaba’s founder, Jack Ma, named Zhejiang Hupan Entrepreneurship Research Center.
With my mentor in Hupan University, former CSO of Alibaba group. pic.twitter.com/uo3dwDo0vL
— H.E. Justin Sun🌞(hiring) (@justinsuntron) April 11, 2023
While in Hupan, Sun completed his thesis titled The Birth of a Decentralized Internet, showing his early interest in the crypto industry.
He graduated from Hupan University and subsequently landed a job at Ripple Labs, one of the foremost crypto companies in the world. According to the South China Morning Post, he was the youngest member of the inaugural class at Hupan University.
While at the University of Pennsylvania, Sun made his first crypto investment in Bitcoin.
Justin Sun Net Worth: Orchestrating Success Across Cryptocurrency Projects
Sun generated the bulk of his known wealth by investing in the cryptocurrency market.
He is renowned as the founder of the top blockchain network TRON, as well as for his acquisitions of BitTorrent and the crypto exchange Poloniex.
To learn how he made his net worth grow to such a massive extent, keep reading.
Early Career
In late 2013, following his university graduation, Justin Sun joined Ripple Labs as their chief representative and adviser. Aged only 23, he was the company’s first employee in China.
Reflecting on history is quite fascinating. Both @VitalikButerin and I have had interactions with @Ripple. Interestingly, I managed to secure a job at Ripple and worked there for quite a long time, while Vitalik ultimately did not participate in Ripple's internship due to visa…
— H.E. Justin Sun🌞(hiring) (@justinsuntron) February 6, 2024
He didn’t remain there for long, though. He left the post in 2014 to launch a Chinese voice-based social networking app called Peiwo.
By 2015, Sun’s name had become big in the business world. CNTV named him the most noteworthy new entrepreneur for the year, and Forbes included him in their 30 Under 30 Asia list in 2015, 2016, and 2017.
Tron Network
In 2017, Justin Sun founded his most profitable venture so far, the blockchain-based platform TRON.
The TRON network is a contract platform that aims to decentralize finance and software elements across different fields, from digital entertainment to payments. To support the platform, he launched the TRX token.
In September of the same year, Tron held an initial coin offering for their new token, just a few days before the Chinese government banned ICOs. The company raised around $70 million at the ICO. Following the ban, Sun decided to leave China and move to the United States.
Also in 2017, Sun established the TRON Foundation in Singapore and started working as its chief executive officer. The Foundation focused on maintaining and developing the TRON network, which later evolved into TRON DAO.
Sun’s allocation from the ICO-raised capital hasn’t been publicly disclosed, but 34% of the TRX tokens went to the TRON Foundation, and he most likely received a large portion of it.
These days, the TRON network is a major success with its native coin, TRX, boasting a market cap of over $10 billion.
The TRON blockchain network is one of the most popular ways to transfer the world’s largest stablecoin Tether, too, and now accounts for over half of all USDT transfers.
In 2022, Sun announced the launch of an algorithmic stablecoin on the TRON blockchain, dubbed USDD, marking what he believed to be “the third era of stablecoins”.
So far, the USDD stablecoin hasn’t achieved a large market share.
BitTorrent
Justin Sun didn’t stop at his first successful venture in the crypto industry after he founded Tron.
He has since gone on a buying spree to acquire and fund several other crypto ventures and blockchain companies, starting with his BitTorrent acquisition in June 2018.
Poloniex
In 2019, Justin Sun made another notable acquisition when he bought the popular crypto exchange Poloniex, though details about the purchase haven’t been publicly disclosed.
He reportedly took a controlling stake in the company, though he acquired it with several other investors.
Founded only five years before, Poloniex was initially acquired by Circle, the issuer of the stablecoin USDC, in 2018 for $400 million.
The exchange once commanded over half of exchange transactions but was declining rapidly before Sun’s purchase.
In 2021, Sun demanded that he should be given personal ownership of customer funds that users accidentally sent to the wrong wallet addresses i.e. misplaced Poloniex funds, which equaled around 300 Bitcoin, worth around $20 million at the time.
Eventually, all those misplaced funds were siphoned out of wallets and landed in an anonymous wallet, which transferred the haul into one of Poloniex’s communal wallets.
After that, the trail of the Bitcoin was lost.
On November 10, 2023, the Poloniex exchange was hacked and lost over $100 million in assets in the attack, though it hasn’t officially confirmed the loss. Sun offered a 5% reward to the hacker on social media, giving them seven days to return the stolen funds.
A withdrawal freeze was also instigated.
HTX was also hacked, with the hacker siphoning around $100 million out of that exchange, too.
We are offering a 5% white hat bounty to the Poloniex hacker. Please return the funds to the following ETH/TRX/BTC wallets. We will give you 7 days to consider this offer before we engage law enforcement.
ETH Wallet: 0x176F3DAb24a159341c0509bB36B833E7fdd0a132 TRX:…— H.E. Justin Sun🌞(hiring) (@justinsuntron) November 10, 2023
This resulted in a withdrawal freeze on November 10 after Poloniex hackers stole $114 million, which was followed up by $97 million being stolen from HTX.
Both exchanges have since recovered from the hack and are resuming the tokens. Sun stated a month after the attacks:
And also be aware, since we have already covered all of the loss of tokens in the platform, on HTX and Poloniex, 100% of assets are 100% safe. Even though in terms of exchanges itself, we need to basically earn those profits in the future. But for customer assets, it’s 100% safe.
HTX
Justin Sun made another significant acquisition in the crypto space in 2022 – a controlling stake in HTX, also known as Huobi.
Huobi is well known for its massive list of supported cryptos, allowing users to trade many tiny tokens that few other exchanges offer.
Sun acquired the exchange through his interest in About Capital Management, in which he was one of the leading investors.
The investment firm About Capital bought a $1 billion stake in Huobi, though it is unclear how much exactly Justin Sun owns in this business.
At the time of HTX’s purchase, Sun was the company’s Global Advisor. He was later confirmed to be leading the HTX exchange.
In November 2022, Justin Sun and Huobi announced a joint launch of another token called Dominica Coin (DMC), which would be the world’s first national token.
The TRON network was selected as the national blockchain infrastructure of the Commonwealth of Dominica a few days earlier. The issuance of the coin was endorsed by the Dominica government.
Citizens of Dominica will be able to apply for loans and open bank accounts using DMC.
Ambassadorship
In December 2021, Justin Sun was appointed the Amabassador and Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO) for the Caribbean nation of Grenada. He resigned as the CEO of Tron at the same time.
Soon after his appointment to the post, Sun changed his Twitter handle to include “H.E.”, meaning “His Excellency” – the honorific he was entitled to use as an ambassador. Local news reported at the time that Sun had been a Grenada resident since 2019.
When a different party won the Grenadian elections in June 2022, it was reported that Sun was recalled from his mission to the Swiss-based trade organization.
In a conversation with The Block, Sun had shared screenshots of internal WTO systems showing him still in place.
However, in a Twitter post the very same day, he stated that his term was coming to an end on March 31, 2023, coinciding with SEC charges that we’ll look at in a moment.
As my term as the Ambassador of Grenada to the World Trade Organization (@wto) comes to a close, effective 31 March 2023, I want to express my gratitude for the wonderful experiences and the amazing support that I have received during my time here.
— H.E. Justin Sun🌞(hiring) (@justinsuntron) March 31, 2023
Controversies
The TRON founder Justin Sun is known as one of the smartest investors in the crypto sphere, but his life hasn’t been without controversies.
In 2018, Tron’s whitepaper was accused of plagiarism for borrowing heavily from IPFS and Filecoin without giving credit, which stirred up controversy.
Sun’s reaction to these accusations, along with his claims of Tron being better than Ethereum, built the seed for skepticism surrounding his investments.
This only marked the beginning of his controversial career, though. The company’s promotional strategies, combined with his personal marketing strategies, led to scrutiny.
For instance, TRON’s Tesla giveaway in 2019 was criticized for “lack of transparency and fairness” and the company’s rumored partnership with Liverpool FC was debunked soon after Sun hinted at it.
At one point, Justin Sun attempted to leverage a $4.57 million charity auction win for a lunch meeting with renowned investor Warren Buffett as a promotional tool.
However, when he postponed the meeting stating that he had health issues, rumors came out of his legal troubles in China, which was followed by protests.
In March 2023, TRON faced a lawsuit filed by the US SEC, which alleges the offering of manipulative trading practices and unregistered securities. Justin Sun has since denied these charges.
The network’s native token, TRX, dropped 13% following these charges.
The charges are still outstanding, with lawyers for the Tron network recently filing to have the case dropped claiming the SEC didn’t have authority to regulate the crypto space.
Justin Sun Net Worth: Other Investments and Assets
For the most part, Justin Sun’s net worth is concentrated in his crypto holdings, but he has also invested a significant portion of his earnings into personal assets.
Let’s take a look at his public crypto holdings and publicly disclosed assets as they stand today.
Justin Sun Net Worth: Crypto Holdings
Justin Sun is a billionaire thanks to his crypto assets, which make up the majority of his wealth.
Justin Sun’s portfolio of crypto assets amounts to over $2 billion at exchange rates at the time of writing. In comparison, he reportedly held $7 billion in cryptocurrencies in 2021.
On the TRON blockchain alone, his holdings amount to $861.66 million. Justin Sun holds the following crypto assets:
- around $230 million in TRX (and likely much more)
- around $280 million in USDD
Based on this data, Justin Sun’s holdings of TRX’s supply are 2.4%, which makes him the largest individual holder of the coin by a massive margin.
He is also linked to other top-ranking entities for these coins. TRON DAO, for instance, is a top holder of TRX tokens with at least 12.39 billion tokens worth about $1.34 billion.
Since TRON DAO was launched by Justin Sun, he most likely owns a significant portion of these holdings, too. Additionally, HTX owns the second largest quantity at 9.9 billion tokens, worth around $1 billion.
His stablecoin USDD is third in line, holding nearly 10 billion million worth around $975 million (due to the certain price impact of selling such a large holding of a small token).
Between 2017 and 2023, Sun’s largest holdings in cryptocurrencies were Bitcoin and Ethereum. Up until 2019, ETH constituted most of his public crypto holdings.
He reportedly holds the following:
- around $210.78 million in BTC
- around $408.56 million in ETH
- around $109 million in BTT
- around $90 million in USDJ
In 2022, CoinDesk shared that Justin Sun stored $580 million of Bitcoin in Valkyrie Investments, which amounted to over 90% of the net worth of the company’s largest division, Valkyrie Digital Assets LLC.
If he still holds his stake in this business, this would add another billion or more to his already high net worth.
Justin Sun’s Other Personal Investments
Another notable investment of Justin Sun was in Animoca Brands, one of the top NFT companies in the world. He took part in a $65 million funding round in October 2021, though we don’t know exactly how much he invested.
Justin Sun’s non-crypto assets contribute to his wealth significantly, too. Aside from his crypto projects, he has invested a fortune in NFTs and made large art purchases.
His private investments include a $15 million purchase of the Bored Ape Yacht Club Tron NFT, which he uses as his Twitter profile picture.
He also spent $10.5 million for a TRON NFT Tpunk, which looks like the Joker. The crypto community called him out for these purchases, arguing that they were publicity stunts to advertise Tron network.
Crypto Punk #NFT became the most expensive @Twitter avatars worth $10M! But today, the world record has been renewed again.
I bought a new Ape avatar with $15M worth of #TRX today!
After all, the art of the #NFT avatar is the new artistic showcasing for our generation. https://t.co/Jmam6rv2Xb
— H.E. Justin Sun🌞(hiring) (@justinsuntron) November 30, 2021
In the art world, Justin Sun made his biggest public purchase so far when he bought Le Nez by Alberto Giacometti for $78.4 million.
In addition to this, his art holdings include pieces by Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol, among others. He spent $20 million for “Femme nue couchee au collier” by Picasso and $1.5 million for “Three self-portraits” by Warhol.
In addition to these investments, Justin Sun also invested $10 million in Gamestop and $2 million in AMC and silver, all during the meme-stock boom.
What Can We Learn from Justin Sun’s Story?
The TRON founder, Justin Sun, has left an indelible mark on the crypto community through his strategic investments, unique style, and visionary leadership.
In his career, he has invested in various crypto ventures and blockchain companies but also has significant personal assets in different coins.
His estimated net worth, exceeding $2.4 billion, underscores his remarkable success in navigating the landscape of digital assets, which we can all agree is volatile.
Sun’s successful acquisition of BitTorrent and Poloniex, along with the founding of TRON, exemplifies his ability to capitalize on emerging opportunities within his sphere of interest, the crypto industry.
Despite facing numerous controversies, including legal challenges as well as plagiarism accusations, his resilience has kept him afloat and even propelled him to higher prominence in the crypto community.
Beyond his crypto holdings, Sun’s diversified portfolio includes investments in art, NFTs, and traditional stocks like Gamestop and AMC, which teaches us the importance of diversifying one’s income sources.