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Crypto CEO Postpones Buffett Charity Lunch; Denies Money-Laundering, Porn, & Gambling Accusations

Courtesy of ZeroHedge. View original post here.

The Tron Foundation is pushing back the Warren Buffett Lunch and press conferences to an unspecified date, claiming it is due to medical issues, but is also facing multiple allegations of money-laundering.

image courtesy of CoinTelegraph

CoinTelegraph’s Max Boddy reports that, according to an official Twitter post, Justin Sun – who successfully procured the lunch with Buffett by winning the affiliated charity auction – is currently out of commission due to kidney stones, and associated parties have agreed to reschedule the lunch.

In June, Tron founder and CEO Justin Sun won a charity auction on eBay to have lunch with Buffett, the famously successful investor and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. Sun’s winning bid was apparently $4,567,888 – the highest bid in the event’s 20 year history.

On July 19, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire accepted Sun’s invitation to join him at the lunch. In addition to Allaire, Litecoin creator Charlie Lee will also reportedly attend the event.

Warren Buffett has notoriously voiced some incendiary anti-cryptocurrency views. Last May, Warren said that cryptocurrencies will end badly, and called Bitcoin “probably rat poison squared.”

More recently, Warren claimed in February that Bitcoin (BTC) is a delusion, apparently because blockchain does not depend on BTC or actively produce something. Warren said: 

“You can stare at it all day, and no little Bitcoins come out or anything like that. It’s a delusion, basically.”

However, while the kidney stones are a good reason to postpone a lunch, one can’t help but wonder if there are other issues that make the lunch ‘awkward’ as CoinTelegraph’s Adrian Zmudzinksi reports that Sun denied illegal fundraising, porn transaction facilitation, gambling and money laundering accusations in a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo published on July 23.

image courtesy of CoinTelegraph

Earlier today, Chinese media 21st Century Business Herald claimed in an article that unspecified sources informed its reporters that Justin Sun is still on Chinese territory. The website also cites concerns over alleged pornography-related transactions in his Peiwo social media, fundraising and gambling.

The outlet further suggests that Sun cannot leave the country, and this is the real reason why Sun decided earlier today to postpone the Warren Buffett Lunch and press conferences to an unspecified date. The outlet rhetorically asks whether Sun will be able to meet Buffett without first resolving the aforementioned concerns.

In the aforementioned Weibo post, Justin addresses the accusations.

Sun denies involvement in illegal practices

According to his post, the illegal fundraising accusations are false since – after the Chinese government banned initial coin offerings in September 2017 – the Tron Foundation returned the funds. Sun also says that also the money laundering accusations have no basis since the Tron Foundation is located in Singapore, complies with local regulations, and does not involve fiat on or off-ramp services.

He also noted that, when it comes to Peiwo allegedly facilitating illegal porn-related transactions, the company collaborates with regulators, monitors users and tries to ensure that the content is positive. 

Sun also more broadly addressed the accusations of facilitation of illegal activities by pointing out that Tron is a decentralized internet network and that the Foundation opposes the unlawful use of the protocol. Lastly, Sun declares:

“We understand the concerns over the development of blockchain technology, and we are willing to open up and communicate to jointly promote the development of blockchain technology in China.”

Tron (TRX) price has plunged over the last 24 hours, trading at about $0.024, according to Coinbase.

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