Justin Sun Apologizes to Regulators for ‘Over-Marketing’ Buffett Lunch

Justin Sun, the founder of the Tron cryptocurrency, has issued a public apology via his social media channel for his recent conduct hyping a cryptocurrency industry event.

Sun published a letter on Weibo in Chinese on Thursday, saying he “sincerely apologizes to the public, media, officials and regulatory authorities” for his over-marketing actions, especially with his recent publicizing of a highly-anticipated charity lunch with billionaire investor Warren Buffett.

“My intention of having the lunch with Buffett was because of my admiration for him and my enthusiasm for charity. It was simple, but also with self-interest to promote the blockchain industry and my project. But my immature, naive, and impulsive conducts with my big mouth have turned it into an out-of-control and failed over-marketing hype and led to a significant series of unexpected consequences,” he wrote, adding:

“During the whole process, I went from being excited, to worried, agonized and then terrified and regretful. … It led to a negative influence on the public and also drew concerns from regulators who care about me. Again I want to say: I am sorry.”

Sun didn’t specify which regulators he is referring to in the letter, but mentioned the term “regulator” 13 times. So far, he has only published the apology in Chinese. The letter comes just days after he postponed the lunch with Buffett, citing a health issue with kidney stones.

Soon after he announced the postponement, media outlets in China published reports on Tuesday saying Sun had been on China’s border control list, though Sun later live streamed himself to prove he’s currently in San Francisco.

In addition, Sun said in the letter he will now minimize his appearance in the public to contemplate the over-marketing issue.

“Moving forward, due to my illness, I will take some rest, reduce my publicity on Weibo and media interviews. All the efforts spent on publicity stunt need to go back to technology development,” he stated.

On Wednesday, Sun said in a tweet that he is feeling much better and seems to be back working at full speed on Friday. In a Weibo post on the same day, he also said he should be able to meet the outside world soon after recovery.

Justin Sun image via CoinDesk