This is a post-90s individual who dares to teach the stock god a lesson.
Brothers, today Big B will tell you a real story that is more bizarre than a movie.
The protagonist is a kid from Sichuan born in 1990, who went from being a poor student in high school to a talent at Peking University, from a poor student to a billionaire in the cryptocurrency circle.
He spent 4,560,000 dollars to invite Buffett to dinner, but was jokingly referred to by netizens as 'Sun Cut'.
He is Sun Yuchen, a business genius who packaged 'cutting leeks' as an entrepreneurial legend.
How outrageous is this story? The Tron coin he founded reached a market value of 13 billion dollars at its peak.
The more outrageous thing is that in 2024, he actually backdoor-listed his blockchain project on NASDAQ, becoming a post-90s listed company boss.
Without further ado, let's trace the rise of this "crypto world's Jia Yueting" chronologically. The full text contains 6039 words, so please read it carefully!
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Chapter 1: The Myth of Peking University's Comeback (2008-2013)
2008: The Senior Year Miracle
The story begins in 2008. At that time, 18-year-old Sun Yuchen was studying at a high school in Sichuan. His grades were among the worst, and he could only get into a third-tier university.
But this kid has a special talent—writing essays.
He participated in the New Concept Writing Competition, won first prize, and used this award to gain admission to Peking University's History Department through independent enrollment.
But he prefers to tell another version: he suddenly had a breakthrough in his senior year of high school, and in one year he went from scoring over 300 points to 650 points, and was admitted to Peking University.
This version is more inspiring and more likely to gain fans.
From that moment on, Sun Yuchen understood a principle: storytelling is more important than facts.
2009-2012: My Time at Peking University
At Peking University, Justin Sun thrived.
He wrote articles in the magazine "Mengya" and presented himself as a "god of the college entrance examination". It is said that he received tens of thousands of letters from middle school students.
He replied, "Effort will be rewarded."
He should have said, "Good packaging will bring rewards."
After graduating from Peking University, he went to the University of Pennsylvania to pursue a master's degree in East Asian Studies.
The major sounds like it's just about getting a degree, but the important thing is the "Ivy League" label.
In China, these three words mean credit endorsement.
2012: My First Encounter with Bitcoin
While studying at the University of Pennsylvania, Justin Sun came into contact with Bitcoin through the school's online forum.
At the time, Bitcoin was only around $10, so he started investing small amounts. Little did anyone know that this chance encounter would sow the seeds for his later legendary success in the cryptocurrency world.
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Chapter Two: My Gold Rush in the Crypto World (2013-2017)
2013: Joined Ripple
At the end of 2013, Justin Sun made an important decision: to give up the opportunity to pursue further studies in law school and join Ripple Labs in Silicon Valley, becoming the chief representative of the Ripple protocol in China.
This was the first turning point in his life, and the beginning of his accumulation of his first pot of gold.
2014: Returned to China to start a business
A year later, Sun Yuchen returned to China with over $2 million in investment from IDG and founded Ripple Technology. However, this venture was unsuccessful. He later reflected, "Entering Lakeside University back then felt like a duck among chickens."
When the VC asked about revenue and profit, he mentioned blockchain. The VC's first reaction was, "Is this a scam?" Back then, blockchain was still too advanced.
2015: Jack Ma's disciple at Lakeside University
In 2015, 25-year-old Sun Yuchen sneaked into the first cohort of Lakeside University, becoming the only post-90s student among the 36 students.
From then on, his business card had a new, shining title: "Disciple of Jack Ma".
How many times has Jack Ma met him? God knows.
But the phrase "Jack Ma's student" is more effective in China than a Harvard MBA.
Before this, he had already accumulated a host of titles: cover figure of Asiaweek, Davos Global Shaper, Forbes 30 Under 30...
Every title is a license to harvest韭菜 (a metaphor for exploiting people).
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Chapter 3: The Birth of the Tron Myth (2017-2018)
July 2017: Tron emerges from obscurity.
In the second half of 2017, ICOs became all the rage. Justin Sun sensed an opportunity, reunited with his classmates from Peking University, and founded TRON.
He painted a grand vision: to build a globally decentralized, free content entertainment system.
The white paper is a joke; it's a huge copy of IPFS and Filecoin, and they didn't even bother to adjust the formatting. Programmers are calling him the "crypto world's Jia Yueting" (a reference to a famous Chinese businessman who famously exploited others for personal gain).
But the retail investors don't understand the technology. All they know is: Peking University graduates, Jack Ma's students, Forbes elites. How can they be wrong?
August 2017: The Fastest ICO in History
From August 1st to 15th, in just half a month, the TRON ICO was completed, raising $58 million.
The issue price is $0.0015, and the issuance volume is 100 billion units.
This is the TRX coin that later became loved and hated by countless people.
The timing was perfect; the ICO had just ended when China declared it illegal. He'd got the money, the regulators were coming, and he'd already fled overseas.
January 2018: A Myth of 130-Fold Increase
Following the cryptocurrency frenzy at the end of 2017, TRX reached an all-time high of $0.1951 in January 2018, a 130-fold increase from its ICO price! Its market capitalization once reached $13 billion.
At that very moment, Justin Sun quietly sold 6 billion TRX tokens, cashing out $300 million.
The retail investors are still dreaming that TRX will become the next Bitcoin.
When I woke up, I found that "Sun Ge" had already been pocketed.
April 2018: A classic showdown with Vitalik Buterin
On April 6, Justin Sun listed seven reasons why TRX is better than ETH on Twitter.
Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin couldn't stand it anymore and directly retorted: "There should be an eighth reason: TRX's efficiency in copying and pasting the white paper is far higher than that of creating an original one."
Justin Sun's response to the plagiarism accusations was quite interesting: "Discussing plagiarism in the business world is meaningless. Cryptocurrency code is open source, and everyone borrows from each other."
This is Sun Yuchen's logic: shamelessness is the biggest advantage.
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Chapter 4: The Era of Ambitious Acquisitions and Expansion (2018-2020)
June 2018: Acquired BitTorrent
To prove that it wasn't just a pipe dream, Justin Sun acquired BitTorrent for $140 million.
This P2P download tool, which once accounted for 40% of global internet traffic, has added "technological sophistication" to Tron.
After the acquisition, he launched the BTT token, which sparked another round of hype.
Although Tron technology has been criticized, as long as the bubble is big enough, the money raised can be used to buy a strong company.
2019: Stablecoin Strategy
In April 2019, Tether decided to issue USDT on the Tron network.
This move almost cemented Tron's current status. Justin Sun quickly shifted his focus to promoting USDT.
As expected, USDT now accounts for more than 98% of the total transaction volume on the Tron network.
The Tron network generates over $2.1 million in daily revenue, with an annualized revenue of $770 million, the vast majority of which comes from USDT transfer fees.
Additionally, on September 9, 2019, Justin Sun, CEO of Tron and BitTorent, donated $1.5 million to Lakeside University.
2020: The Exchange Empire
Justin Sun is not content with simply issuing cryptocurrencies to fleece investors; he wants to build an entire industry chain for harvesting these "investors."
He acquired Poloniex and Huobi, issuing his own cryptocurrency and operating an exchange.
He was both the referee and the player.
The most ruthless tactic was to forcibly change the Steem voting results.
He used users' cryptocurrency from the exchange to vote and elect his own candidate. This is equivalent to a bank using your savings to elect a mayor.
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Chapter 5: The Marketing Pinnacle of the Buffett Lunch (2019)
June 2019: $4.56 million in advertising fees
In the early hours of June 4, Justin Sun announced that he had successfully bid $4,567,888 for Warren Buffett's 20th anniversary charity lunch.
The news sent shockwaves through the cryptocurrency community.
He didn't go to learn; he went to ride the wave of online traffic. Who is Buffett? The stock market guru. Who dined with the stock market guru? The future stock market guru.
As soon as the news broke, he started building momentum.
He wanted the whole world to know about this meal through Weibo, Twitter, and media interviews.
He said he would teach Buffett what blockchain is and get the stock market guru to buy Bitcoin.
The sudden appearance of kidney stones
Then, a dramatic turn of events occurred: Sun Yuchen developed kidney stones.
This kidney stone came at just the right time, coinciding with rumors circulating in China that he was under travel restrictions for allegedly engaging in illegal fundraising. He says it's a coincidence, do you believe him?
In the end, they still had the meal, very discreetly. He gave Buffett a Samsung phone with Bitcoin on it. Then he announced publicly: Buffett has entered the world of cryptocurrency!
What did he buy with 4.56 million? He bought six months of headlines in global media. CNN, BBC, and the New York Times all reported on him.
This advertising fee is worth far more than 4.56 million.
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Chapter Six: A Diversified Business Empire (2020-2023)
APENFT: The hype surrounding art collecting
In 2021, Justin Sun established the APENFT Foundation, venturing into the NFT field. He made high-profile acquisitions of top-tier artworks, including original works by Picasso and Andy Warhol.
The most famous example is the $6.2 million banana from 2024. He ate it right after buying it and said, "It tastes better than a regular banana." That's not foolishness; that's shrewdness.
6.2 million is too cheap to make the whole world talk about you for a month.
Stablecoin Empire: USDD, TUSD
In addition to USDT, Justin Sun also launched his own stablecoin, USDD, with a market capitalization of $432 million.
Meanwhile, although he does not admit it on the surface, multiple pieces of evidence show that he still controls TUSD.
However, in 2021, TUSD suffered a $456 million theft. To maintain stability, Justin Sun personally covered the shortfall.
This guy who always fleeces others has actually been fleeced himself.
DLive and other layouts
Justin Sun's business empire also includes the live streaming platform DLive and the file system BTFS.
From public blockchains to exchanges, from stablecoins to NFTs, he has built a crypto empire spanning multiple sectors.
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Chapter Seven: A Cat-and-Mouse Game with the US Government (2020-2024)
SEC's pursuit
Starting in 2020, the FBI and the Department of Justice launched an investigation into Justin Sun.
In 2023, the SEC formally sued him, accusing him of manipulating the prices of TRX and BTT and illegally selling unregistered securities.
In order to preserve his freedom, he first obtained the title of WTO Ambassador of Grenada in exchange for diplomatic immunity.
After the change of regime, he became the prime minister of the "Republic of Liberland".
Betting on Trump
In the 2024 election, Justin Sun saw an opportunity to turn things around.
He invested $75 million in World Liberty Financial, owned by the Trump family, becoming the largest investor in the project.
He also bought a large amount of Trump coins, becoming the largest holder, and was invited to Trump's dinner party.
From being a "potential criminal suspect" pursued by the FBI to showing off a gold watch given to him by the president at the White House, Justin Sun has used his most proficient methods to navigate both the political and business worlds.
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Chapter 8: The Ultimate Operation of Backdoor Listing (2024-2025)
Nasdaq bell ringing
On July 24, 2024, Justin Sun, dressed in a tuxedo, stood on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange bell-ringing platform to announce Tron's successful backdoor listing.
That once-popular toy company, SRM Entertainment, has transformed itself into a "Nasdaq star" in the crypto finance sector.
The most ingenious part is that the acquisition funds were funded using their own TRX tokens, which in a sense can be considered a "get-rich-quick scheme".
Moreover, the acquiring entity was Justin Sun's father, with Justin Sun merely serving as a "strategic advisor," thus circumventing direct scrutiny from the SEC.
Wealth Exposure
In 2024, when Bloomberg was about to include Justin Sun on its list of the world's richest people, it accidentally revealed his asset list: more than 60 billion TRX, 17,000 Bitcoins, 224,000 Ethereums, 700,000 USDT, with total assets of $8.5 billion.
Justin Sun immediately sued Bloomberg, claiming that the exposure would expose him to risks of "theft, hacking, and kidnapping."
But the die is cast, and Sun Ge's true background has been completely exposed.
In addition, in June 2021, he won the bid for a seat on the first spaceflight of Blue Origin's "New Shepard" spacecraft, owned by Jeff Bezos' space company, for US$28 million (approximately NT$830 million).
Four years later, Justin Sun finally boarded a spacecraft on the 3rd of this month and successfully completed a suborbital spaceflight, becoming the youngest Chinese commercial astronaut in history.
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Chapter Nine: The Human Side of Love and Controversy (2024-2025)
Ex-girlfriend's "tearing apart"
In early 2025, a blogger named "Zeng Ying" posted an article "tearing apart" Sun Yuchen, claiming to be his ex-girlfriend of 7 years. She revealed that during their relationship, they basically ate the cheapest salads in the United States every day and often didn't know where their next meal would come from.
"I fainted in the bathroom because of low blood sugar due to malnutrition. He said that medical care in the United States is too expensive and that I must pull myself together," the blogger complained.
Even more dramatically, she thought Sun Yuchen was a kind vegetarian, "but later I saw the news and found out that his favorite food is coconut chicken. It turns out he was lying to me about everything."
When Justin Sun faced threats, she knelt down and begged for his life, saying, "To get your token listed, I used all the money I could get in 2017 to buy a Japanese exchange." But after TRX skyrocketed, Justin Sun broke up with her, citing "our status is different now."
If this is true, it undoubtedly tears away the facade of Sun Yuchen as a generous and wealthy man, revealing another side of him as shrewd, calculating, and heartless.
Sun Yuchen's response
Faced with his ex-girlfriend's accusations, Sun Yuchen responded skillfully, neither admitting nor denying: "Each of us, in our youth, walks a path alongside different people... These experiences themselves deserve respect and gratitude."
A typical "Tai Chi" response, watertight yet saying nothing at all.
In addition, Ma Jiajia has the most say, because she is Sun Yuchen's only publicly acknowledged girlfriend.
Ma Jiajia recalled that when a group of people were eating coconut chicken, Sun Yuchen would scoop most of the chicken into his own bowl the moment it was cooked, leaving no chance for anyone else to miss out. "Later, people who ate with him discovered that he did the same thing in business." "He had no friends or allies in the world. If a disagreement arose in a collaboration, he would always cheat the other party, and he would secretly rejoice in doing so."
Ma Jiajia and Sun Yuchen appeared together on a variety show, jointly staging a "crowdfunding fake marriage" marketing campaign. Ma Jiajia accused Sun Yuchen of having an extremely weak sense of contractual obligation, which not only led to the breakdown of his relationships with colleagues but also to the failure of his intimate relationships.
Ma Jiajia therefore believes that "being with him is a stain on my life." Ma Jiajia asserts that "Sun Yuchen is like a drug addict, highly addicted to making money because he has no way of getting any happiness from anywhere else."
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Chapter 10: What is the secret to Sun Yuchen's success?
After telling this legendary story, let's summarize Sun Yuchen's success formula:
1. The ultimate application of packaging techniques
From a student who defied the odds to become a Peking University graduate, from a disciple of Jack Ma to a cryptocurrency mogul, Justin Sun understands that in the information age, image is more important than ability. He packages every experience as an inspirational story and every publicity stunt as a business strategy.
2. A genius at seizing opportunities
He raised money right after the ICO craze ended in 2017, moved overseas as soon as the Chinese ban was issued, launched a lending platform when DeFi emerged in 2019, and established a foundation when NFTs became popular in 2021... He always seems to be able to catch every trend.
3. Masters of traffic monetization
From filming his lunch with Warren Buffett to buying 6.2 million bananas, Justin Sun understands the essence of the traffic economy: creating buzz → attracting attention → driving traffic and monetizing. Every "stir-up" is a meticulously designed marketing campaign.
4. Experts in rule utilization
Acquiring stock exchanges to control voting rights, obtaining diplomatic status to evade capture, investing in Trump for political protection, and using backdoor listings to circumvent regulations... Justin Sun always manages to find loopholes in the rules and maximize their exploitation.
5. The Master of Leek Psychology
He knows what retail investors want (the dream of getting rich quick), what they believe in (authoritative endorsements), and what they fear (missing opportunities). So he creates dreams, gives them confidence, and generates anxiety, then cashes out at a high price.
6. Crisis management capabilities
From the September 4th incident to hacker attacks, from SEC lawsuits to the theft of TUSD, Justin Sun has always managed to turn crises around and even expand against the odds. This resilience is a rare quality in the cryptocurrency world.
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Chapter 11: Controversy and Reflection
His supporters
Chen Weixing of Fancheng Capital once said, "Justin Sun is one of the most hardworking entrepreneurs in the cryptocurrency circle. His marketing can only be described as 'excessive,' and rarely as 'fraudulent.'" Indeed, compared to other purely worthless cryptocurrency projects, Tron at least has actual users and applications.
His critics
Zhu Xiaohu of GSR Ventures bluntly stated, "There are too many things in the world more important than money." Li Lun of Panda Capital went even further, pointing out, "Sun Yuchen has made China lose face on the international stage."
While Tron has been criticized for its technology, it has indeed made breakthroughs in commercialization and user experience. The data of over 300 million users and 2.46 million daily transactions doesn't lie.
The question is, is this success based on technological innovation or purely commercial packaging?
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Final Chapter: From "Sun Ge" to a Business Legend?
Sun Yuchen now
In 2025, Justin Sun will have a net worth of $8.5 billion, ranking 353rd on the global rich list, higher than 74-year-old Terry Gou.
He owns a diversified portfolio of assets including listed companies, exchanges, stablecoins, and art collections, making him virtually the emperor of a business empire.
But Justin Sun's future is not entirely bright. Cryptocurrency regulation is tightening, technological competition is fierce, and political risks are mounting.
More importantly, when everyone knows you're a "scammer," will it still be so easy to exploit people?
Is Justin Sun a business genius or a master conman?
There may never be a standard answer to this question.
In this age of rampant speculation, he was the purest speculator; in an era where story mattered more than facts, he was the best storyteller.
His success proves a harsh reality: in the attention economy, hype is more important than technology, and packaging is more valuable than innovation.
Epilogue: The sun rises every day, and the chives grow every day.
Justin Sun's story continues.
He's still criticizing everyone and everything on Twitter, still buying exorbitantly priced artworks, and still launching new cryptocurrencies to fleece new investors. The SEC case has been temporarily settled, and his diplomatic passport provides protection against arrest in China.
Where are the leeks? The old leeks are still standing guard on the mountaintop, while new leeks have sprouted.
They don't know the history of Sun Yat-sen's policies, or even if they do, they don't believe it. They think they're different, that they can escape before the bubble bursts.
Justin Sun likes this kind of chives. They're tender and easy to cut.
This is Justin Sun, the number one predator in the cryptocurrency world. In this crazy era, he's not the virus, he's the symptom. As long as people dream of getting rich quick, as long as people believe in overnight riches, there will always be people to fleece with Sun's schemes.
The sun rises every day, and the chives grow every day.
This is the best of times if you are Justin Sun. This is the worst of times if you are a sucker.
Most of us are just韭菜 (leeks, a metaphor for being exploited or taken advantage of).
Big B's final thoughts!
Justin Sun once said, "My standard for judging a person is how much money they have made." This statement is both honest and cruel.
In his worldview, money is the only standard for success.
But the question is, when money becomes the only standard, have we lost something more important?
Honesty, responsibility, empathy...aren't these qualities, which cannot be measured in money, important?
Perhaps this is the most profound reflection that the Sun Yuchen phenomenon brings us: In this materialistic age, what should we really be pursuing?
Is it financial freedom like Sun Yuchen's, or inner peace and social recognition?
Finally, I'll end with a sentence: Everyone curses Brother Sun, but everyone wants to be "Brother Sun"!
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End of article
Author's Postscript:
After finishing writing Sun Yuchen's story, my biggest feeling is that reality is more absurd than fiction.
A post-90s generation individual transformed from a student into the head of a business empire worth 8.5 billion yuan in just 15 years.
No matter how we judge his methods, we cannot deny his "success".
But what is the price of this success? It is the hard-earned money of countless investors, the overdrawn trust, and the distorted values.
While we admire Sun Yuchen's wealth, we should also reflect: Is such success worth pursuing?
The cryptocurrency market is risky; invest with caution. But more importantly, maintain moral principles and have ethical standards when making money. In this tempting era, staying true to your original aspirations is more important than getting rich quick.
Finally, I'd like to leave you with this thought: Money can buy many things, but it can't buy inner peace.
Note: This article is for entertainment purposes only and should not be considered investment advice. Remember: investing involves risk, and gambling can ruin your life. Countless people have proven this through their own experiences.
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