Tron Says Protestors at Beijing Office Invested in Imposter Scheme

The price of Tron tanked Monday on inaccurate rumors of a "police raid" at the company's office in Beijing. The real story was more interesting.

AccessTimeIconJul 8, 2019 at 9:00 p.m. UTC
Updated Aug 18, 2021 at 11:34 p.m. UTC

Presented By Icon

Election 2024 coverage presented by

Stand with crypto

The price of Tron dropped precipitously Monday on inaccurate rumors of a "police raid" at the company's office in Beijing. The real story, however, was far more interesting.

According to an official company post, the police arrived to protect the office from "people [who] were deceived by the so-called 'Wave Field Super Community,'" a group that used the "Chinese-language version of TRON’s name to defraud investors." The victims called Tron itself a scam and cited the alleged suicide earlier this month of one investor in Wave Field Super Community.

  • Bitcoin Mining in the U.S. Will Become 'a Lot More Decentralized': Core Scientific CEO
    13:18
    Bitcoin Mining in the U.S. Will Become 'a Lot More Decentralized': Core Scientific CEO
  • Binance to Discontinue Its Nigerian Naira Services After Government Scrutiny
    05:10
    Binance to Discontinue Its Nigerian Naira Services After Government Scrutiny
  • The first video of the year 2024
    04:07
    The first video of the year 2024
  • The last regression video of the year 3.67.0
    40:07
    The last regression video of the year 3.67.0
  • "The victims had been promised high rates of return on their investments in the name of TRON, BitTorrent and uTorrent," the company wrote.

    The bilked investors also stormed the wrong place. According to Tron, they approached the office of Raybo Technologies, a Tron affiliate that seems to have filed a number of U.S. trademarks for various Tron-related phrases.

    "TRON officials expressed their sympathy and understanding for those who had been deceived, however, the company strongly condemns acts of violence that may be perpetrated as a result of events that are not in its direct control," the company wrote.

    Tron CEO Justin Sun responded on Twitter:

    The Wave Field Super Community has been running since January 2019 and banked on its name's similarity to Tron's use of the phrase "Wave Field" in China. The alleged Ponzi scheme promised massive returns and claimed to be investing in "Tron, BitTorrent, and uTorrent."

    The group pretended to be a Tron "Super Representative," essentially an important node on the network, a claim that Tron never confirmed. The site closed suddenly on July 1, leading to mass confusion. Users of the Chinese microblogging site Weibo circulated what appeared to be a suicide note by a woman named Xia Bing, who claimed to have borrowed money to invest in the scheme. The note first appeared on a site called Nuclear Finance in China.

    Even with the "raid" rumors debunked, Tron's price has yet to fully recover.

    coindesk-trx-chart-2019-07-08

    Tron image via Shutterstock.

    Disclosure

    Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information have been updated.

    CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk has adopted a set of principles aimed at ensuring the integrity, editorial independence and freedom from bias of its publications. CoinDesk is part of the Bullish group, which owns and invests in digital asset businesses and digital assets. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive Bullish group equity-based compensation. Bullish was incubated by technology investor Block.one.


    Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.