Key Highlights:
- Justin Sun claims Bloomberg breached confidentiality on crypto holdings.
- Sun warns publication risks kidnapping, hacking, and physical coercion.
- Lawsuit seeks injunction; highlights 51 wrench attacks reported globally.
Justin Sun’s Lawsuit Over Alleged Data Breach by Bloomberg
Justin Sun, the founder of the TRON blockchain, has filed a federal lawsuit against Bloomberg, accusing the media company of violating its promise to keep his cryptocurrency financial data confidential. The suit, filed on August 11 in Delaware, requests a temporary and permanent injunction to prevent Bloomberg from publishing precise amounts Sun provided solely for wealth verification on Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index.
Sun emphasized that publishing his crypto holdings would expose him to immediate and significant risks, including kidnapping, hacking, blackmail, and physical violence. The court documents also underscore the irreversible nature of crypto transactions, meaning stolen funds are almost impossible to recover.
Security Risks and Legal Arguments
According to Sun, Bloomberg journalists offered assurances of confidentiality when proposing his inclusion in the billionaire ranking earlier this year. Bloomberg journalist Tom Sloan had privately stated that sensitive wallet address files “would not leave our office” and access would be strictly limited.
Publishing the detailed breakdown of Sun’s crypto assets deviates from Bloomberg’s standard practice of presenting other billionaires’ wealth as totals or via public disclosures. Sun’s legal team argues that revealing exact wallet amounts enables attackers to use address clustering techniques to identify his wallets, significantly raising the danger of wrench attacks—physical coercion incidents aimed at forcing cryptocurrency transfers.
The lawsuit cites Bloomberg’s own reporting on 51 such wrench attacks worldwide this year, including the gruesome kidnapping and mutilation of French Ledger co-founder David Balland and an armed extortion involving $500,000 in Uganda.
Sun alleges Bloomberg plans to publish this sensitive data imminently and demands a jury trial alongside compensation for legal fees and court costs.
