Justin Sun steps in amid TUSD reserve crisis as FDT denies bankruptcy claims

• Justin Sun funds TUSD amid a $456M reserve crisis.
• First Digital Trust (FDT) denies insolvency claims and calls the claims a smear campaign.
• FDT’s FDUSD stablecoin depeged, dropping 12%, amid the market turmoil.

The cryptocurrency world is no stranger to drama, and the latest chapter involves Tron founder Justin Sun stepping into a financial storm surrounding TrueUSD (TUSD).

Recent court documents from Hong Kong revealed that TUSD, a stablecoin meant to maintain a steady $1 peg, faced a staggering $456 million reserve crisis between mid-2023 and early 2024.

TUSD’s woes trace back to broader challenges, including the 2023 collapse of its US custodian, Prime Trust, and a 2024 SEC settlement with TrueCoin and TrustToken for misleading investors about its dollar backing.

What happened to TrueUSD (TUSD)?

Techteryx, the company behind TUSD since acquiring it from TrueCoin in 2020, discovered that its reserves, managed by Hong Kong-based First Digital Trust (FDT), had been funneled into illiquid investments.

These funds, intended for the Aria Commodity Finance Fund, were instead redirected to Dubai-based Aria Commodities DMCC, leaving Techteryx unable to access the cash needed to back its stablecoin.

FDT’s CEO, Vincent Chok, has, however, pushed back, insisting his firm followed Techteryx’s instructions and denying any wrongdoing.

Amid the TrueUSD (TUSD) reserve crisis, Sun, a polarizing figure in the crypto space, has stepped in to provide emergency funding to stabilize TUSD, ensuring its peg held firm and user confidence remained intact.

Sun’s intervention stirs controversy

Sun’s intervention wasn’t just a financial lifeline; it was a calculated move to protect the broader stablecoin ecosystem.

With Sun’s support structured as a loan, Techteryx set aside 400 million TUSD to quarantine the troubled reserves, allowing retail redemptions to continue uninterrupted.

While Sun later explained his actions, stating that maintaining trust in stablecoins is critical to their survival, his involvement has reignited scrutiny of his role in TUSD, especially given past denials of direct ownership amid allegations of clandestine acquisitions.

FDUSD stablecoin depegs after finding itself in the crossfire

The fallout from this saga didn’t stay confined to TUSD. On April 2, 2025, Sun took to social media, accusing FDT of insolvency and claiming it couldn’t redeem $501 million in TUSD reserves—a figure slightly higher than the $456 million cited in court documents.

Notably, Sun’s allegations painted FDT as a sinking ship, urging users to secure their assets and calling for Hong Kong regulators to intervene.

First Digital Trust (FDT) is, in fact, already insolvent. This is a factual statement, devoid of any emotion. If you have any ties with them, please sever them as soon as possible to protect your assets. As for what consequences its founder, Vincent Chok, will face for his…

— H.E. Justin Sun 🍌 (@justinsuntron) April 2, 2025

Sun has scheduled a press conference for April 3 to elaborate, amplifying the sense of urgency.

Protect users and protect HK

First Digital Trust (FDT) is effectively insolvent and unable to fulfill client fund redemptions. I strongly recommend that users take immediate action to secure their assets. There are significant loopholes in both the trust licensing process in…

— H.E. Justin Sun 🍌 (@justinsuntron) April 2, 2025

This bombshell triggered a sharp 12% drop in the price of FDUSD, a separate stablecoin issued by FDT, which fell from its $1 peg to $0.87 before recovering slightly to $0.9887.

The FDUSD depegging wiped out roughly $130 million in market capitalization, rattling investors and drawing attention to FDUSD’s ties to Binance , where it’s heavily traded.

Analyst Ai on X noted Sun’s allegations, highlighting that the depeging of FDUSD prompted a swift reaction from Wintermute, a major trading firm, which withdrew 31.36 million FDUSD from Binance in just 30 minutes.

Wintermute 似乎在为 $FDUSD 托底啊🤔

在孙哥揭露 FDUSD 发行商已破产后，币价一度脱锚至 $0.89，而 Wintermute 在过去半小时内从 #Binance 提出 3136 万枚 FDUSD，其链上持仓排名也已从 TOP6 升至 TOP5（该排名包含交易所和机构）

托底地址 https://t.co/OLXTO5WI9n

本文由 #Gateio | @Gateio_zh … pic.twitter.com/pzhtS3jG9y

— Ai 姨 (@ai_9684xtpa) April 2, 2025

This move elevated Wintermute to the fifth-largest holder of FDUSD among exchanges and institutions, with 65.46 million tokens—about 2.5% of the total supply—now in its possession.

Ai suggested Wintermute might be attempting to stabilize FDUSD’s price, a theory bolstered by its rapid accumulation amid the chaos.

FDT threatens to sue Justin Sun

FDT didn’t take Sun’s claims lying down. In an official statement on April 2, the company dismissed his accusations as “completely false” and a “typical Justin Sun smear campaign” aimed at undermining a competitor.

FDT emphasized that the dispute centers on TUSD, not FDUSD, and insisted that FDUSD remains fully solvent, with every dollar backed by secure US Treasury bills. The firm pointed to its attestation reports, which list ISIN numbers for its reserves, as proof of transparency.

The recent allegations by Justin Sun against First Digital Trust are completely false.

This dispute is with TUSD and not with $FDUSD . First Digital is completely solvent.

Every dollar backing $FDUSD is completely, secure, safe and accounted for with US backed T-Bills. The…

— First Digital (@FirstDigitalHQ) April 2, 2025

Notably, FDT has also scheduled an AMA on X Spaces for April 3 to address the public directly, signaling a fierce counteroffensive.

Threatening legal action, FDT accused Sun of bypassing the courts with a coordinated social media attack, a move they say was designed to harm FDUSD’s reputation.