The cryptocurrency holdings of Sun Yuchen have been made public! He is suing Bloomberg: it will cause irreparable harm?

In August 2025, a highly anticipated legal battle erupted between the world of crypto assets and traditional media giants. Sun Yuchen, the founder of TRON, a highly influential figure in the global crypto field, has officially filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware against the globally renowned financial media outlet Bloomberg. The core of the lawsuit directly targets Bloomberg's plan to (and ultimately) publicly disclose the highly confidential details of his personal crypto assets holdings. Sun Yuchen's side believes that this move not only seriously violates Bloomberg's previous commitment to "strict confidentiality" but also puts both his and his family's safety at "significant and irreparable" risk.

This case is not just a legal dispute between celebrities and the media; it is more like a magnifying glass that starkly presents the profound contradiction between the inherent "transparency" of blockchain technology and personal asset privacy and personal safety to the public.

Absolute confidentiality

According to the content of the lawsuit submitted to the court, the starting point of this incident originated from a "proactive invitation" by Bloomberg earlier this year. A reporter from Bloomberg actively reached out to Sun Yuchen's team, hoping to include him in the media's highly authoritative online "Bloomberg Billionaires Index."

Due to the sensitivity of his own crypto assets, Sun Yuchen was initially quite hesitant about this proposal. However, the lawsuit states that a Bloomberg reporter, during multiple communications, provided a clear and firm assurance: any financial information provided by Sun Yuchen, especially regarding the crypto assets, would be kept "strictly confidential," and its use would be limited to the internal team's "accounting" of his total net worth, with no details ever disclosed externally.

After obtaining what he deemed as credible guarantees, Sun Yuchen agreed to provide detailed wallet addresses and various asset data to Bloomberg's wealth verification team through secure communication channels. His understanding was that the only thing publicly disclosed on the billionaire index would be a total net worth figure, which would not break down into the types of coins, let alone reveal specific holdings.

Moreover, to ensure absolute certainty, Sun Yuchen's team reiterated to Bloomberg in March this year: "All information shared within the group is for verification purposes only and may not be used for any reporting." At that time, Bloomberg did not raise any objections.

Commitment to tune change

However, this seemingly solid confidentiality promise took a shocking turn a few months later. At the end of July this year, Sun Yuchen's team was stunned to discover that a Bloomberg journalist had improperly used these confidential data, which they had promised to keep secret, in another unrelated article. Subsequently, the draft of the billionaire index personal page they received directly and in detail listed the types and specific quantities of the crypto assets held by Sun Yuchen.

Sun Yuchen's legal team pointed out that this meticulous disclosure method is vastly different from how Bloomberg treats other crypto asset billionaires, such as Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong or Binance founder Zhao Changpeng (CZ). For the latter, Bloomberg typically only publishes a total asset valuation based on public statements.

The complaint emphasizes that disclosing such precise asset details will provide criminals with a clear "roadmap." They can use address clustering techniques to easily associate these public wallet addresses with Sun Yuchen by analyzing on-chain transaction patterns. Once the identity is fully matched with specific assets, he will face significant threats from hackers, thieves, and even organized crime groups, the most frightening of which are commonly referred to as "wrench attacks"—that is, using physical violence to coerce victims into transferring their crypto assets.

Due to the "irreversible" nature of Crypto Assets transactions, once assets are illegally transferred, there is almost no possibility of recourse. The lawsuit also ironically mentions that Bloomberg itself has reported multiple cases of risks related to kidnappings or extortion due to exposure of Crypto Assets.

Legal Offense and Defense

Based on the above reasons, Sun Yuchen claims in this lawsuit that Bloomberg's actions involve two charges: "public disclosure of private facts" and "promissory estoppel," meaning that Bloomberg violated its initial commitment that prompted him to disclose confidential information and should therefore be prohibited from changing its stance.

He requested the court to issue a temporary, preliminary, and even permanent injunction to prevent Bloomberg from publishing detailed information about his assets and demanded compensation for related legal costs.

However, Bloomberg quickly responded. Its lawyer pointed out in a letter to the court that Sun Yuchen's application for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) was already "meaningless" because the relevant report was released on the evening of August 11, nearly two hours earlier than when Sun Yuchen's lawyer formally notified the court about the application for the TRO.

Bloomberg reported that it will argue in subsequent formal objections that the application of the ban violates the freedom of the press rights guaranteed by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

According to the publicly available report from Bloomberg, Sun Yuchen's net worth primarily comes from the following parts: TRX: Holding over 60 billion coins, accounting for about 63% of the total supply, and thus subject to a 75% liquidity risk discount. BTC: About 17,000 coins. ETH: About 224,000 coins. USDT: About 700,000 coins. HTX exchange equity: About 90% of HTX (formerly Huobi) equity, with an estimated revenue of approximately $1.3 billion for the platform in 2024.

Some market commentators believe that the real focus of this controversy is likely on its Holdings of up to 60 billion TRX. This number is far higher than the previous general estimates from the outside world, clearly revealing his highly concentrated control over the TRON ecosystem.

Paradox of No Solution

Although the lawsuit is still ongoing, the core sensitive information has already been made public. Even if the court ultimately makes a ruling in favor of Sun Yuchen, it will be difficult to reverse the reality of the asset details being exposed.

This case transcends the individual case itself; it sharply raises a deep, even intractable paradox faced by the entire crypto industry: the essence of blockchain technology lies in its openness and transparency, which helps establish market trust; however, when this transparency is combined with immense wealth, it can instantaneously transform into a lethal threat to personal safety in the absence of adequate protections.

How can a delicate balance be found between the two? The lawsuit between Sun Yuchen and Bloomberg has already sounded the alarm for all participants in this emerging field—from investors, entrepreneurs to regulators and the media—regardless of the final outcome.