"45.17 million for a banana!"

This is the latest achievement of Justin Sun, the master of “scamming” in the cryptocurrency circle.

When Binance founder Zhao Changpeng was fined a whopping 53.1 billion yuan and was imprisoned for several months in the United States, this "best runner" was already living a carefree life on a small island in the Caribbean.

And his recent statement that "eating bananas is just a continuation of art" made investigators from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) grit their teeth.

Speaking of Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, his life trajectory is legendary.

From being the top student in the history department of Peking University to being a top student at the University of Pennsylvania, from being an intern reporter at Southern Weekend to being a cryptocurrency trader, every turn is dazzling.

People familiar with the matter revealed that as early as 2012, when he was a graduate student, this top student relied on the guidance of his tutor and bet on the skyrocketing prices of Tesla stocks and Bitcoin.

"From a 4x to a 20x return, his first pot of gold came quickly and accurately," said a Wall Street investor who worked with him.

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Even more shocking is his marketing talent.

In 2017, when other virtual currencies were still focusing on technology, Justin Sun had already started the amazing "hype mode". A senior person in the cryptocurrency circle revealed:

From a student at Lakeside University to a disciple of Jack Ma, from the issuance of Tron to its acquisition by Huobi, in just five years, he pushed 100 billion Tron coins, each worth 1 cent, to a sky-high price of 2 yuan.

With this wave alone, Justin Sun cashed out 300 million US dollars.

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As Justin Sun continues to create topics, his marketing methods are becoming more and more amazing.

In 2019, he bought the Buffett lunch at a sky-high price of US$31 million, and the Tron currency soared 13% that day.

Then, not only did he stand up Buffett, he also took the opportunity to spread the news that "the stock god is optimistic about cryptocurrency", reaping another wave of profits.

At the end of 2022, he acquired Huobi.com for US$1 billion, becoming the "boss" of the Asian cryptocurrency market.

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"He always knows where the regulatory winds are heading," said a former SEC investigator.

Before ICO was banned in China, he had already moved overseas; before the SEC took action against Binance, he had become a Grenada citizen and transformed himself into the island country's representative to the WTO.

The exchange he controls cleverly walks on the edge of regulation in various countries.

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In the cryptocurrency world, Justin Sun’s life can be described as flourishing.

From Sotheby's New York to Christie's Hong Kong, from Blue Origin's space journey to a $5.2 million banana, this second-in-command of the cryptocurrency world with a net worth of over $2.4 billion has become a "winner in life" in the hearts of countless leeks.

Some Wall Street analysts pointed out that Justin Sun’s business model can be described as a “perfect harvest”: attracting attention with his academic excellence image, creating topics with marketing methods, and profiting from regulatory vacuums.

This is in stark contrast to the current situation where Zhao Changpeng has pleaded guilty and FTX founder Bankman-Fried faces 110 years in prison.

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"The most ridiculous thing is that the investors who were harvested by him are still following his every tweet."

A senior cryptocurrency investor said helplessly, "His marketing talent is too terrible. He can always make the leeks convinced."

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Now, when the entire cryptocurrency industry is worried about tightening regulation, Justin Sun is living a leisurely life on the island:

While loudly announcing that it would take the Grenada flag into space, it was also "playing with art" at the world's top auction houses.

According to people familiar with the matter, US regulators have listed him as a "key observation person" and he is likely to be the next Chinese billionaire to be heavily fined after Zhao Changpeng.

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A former SEC official said that this may be the biggest irony of the cryptocurrency market: when the regulatory storm comes, those who know how to package themselves best become the ultimate winners.

However, this marketing expert who was once known as the "cryptocurrency circle cutter" has now become a "legend" in the hearts of many leeks.

As for when the US regulators will take action against him? We will have to wait and see.