Justin Sun Escalates Claims in $456M TUSD Reserve Dispute at Hong Kong Briefing

Source: DefiPlanet Original Title: Justin Sun Escalates Claims in $456M TUSD Reserve Dispute at Hong Kong Briefing Original Link:

Quick Breakdown

• Justin Sun publicly accused TUSD custodians of diverting hundreds of millions in reserves into risky ventures.
• He said he injected nearly $500M to prevent a liquidity crisis and welcomed Dubai’s global asset freeze.
• Legal disputes involving Techteryx, First Digital Trust, and Aria Commodities continue in Hong Kong and Dubai.

Sun breaks silence in a rare public address

Justin Sun has stepped deeper into the unfolding $456 million TrueUSD (TUSD) reserve controversy, using a rare in-person media briefing in Hong Kong on November 27 to outline what he called the “truth” behind the missing funds. The event, themed “Truth Unveiled, Justice Revealed,” marked Sun’s most forceful public intervention since the dispute erupted earlier this year.

Allegations of high-risk mismanagement

During the briefing, Sun accused custodial partners tasked with safeguarding TUSD’s reserves of diverting the funds into risky investments between 2021 and 2022. He named First Digital Trust and Aria Commodities as key players, claiming they exploited loopholes in Hong Kong’s trust oversight framework.

According to Sun, large portions of TUSD reserves were channelled into commodity financing and mining ventures, which became impossible to unwind when redemption pressure surged in early 2025. The resulting liquidity crunch, he said, forced him to inject almost $500 million to stabilize the stablecoin and protect users.

Sun welcomed the global asset freeze recently ordered by Dubai’s DIFC Court, describing it as a crucial step toward recovering funds that “should never have left their custodial structures.”

Regulators urged to tighten trust oversight

Beyond the legal claims, Sun used the platform to call for stronger regulatory coordination. He urged Hong Kong authorities to reinforce supervision of trust service providers, arguing that the TUSD incident underscores the need for deeper cross-border enforcement, especially as digital asset markets globalize.

How the dispute evolved

The conflict traces back to the discovery of a $456 million shortfall in TUSD’s reserves at the start of the year. Techteryx, the entity behind TUSD, accused its designated custodians of moving funds through unauthorized channels, ultimately placing them under the control of Aria Commodities, a firm linked to financier Matthew William Brittain.

When market volatility intensified, these illiquid positions left TUSD exposed, prompting emergency legal action in both Hong Kong and Dubai. Sun’s capital infusion helped stabilize the token’s peg, while courts continued to investigate the fate of the diverted assets.