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.
“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.
Context: ponzi scheme that borrowed Tron's name defrauded investors out of ~$145M USD. Guy in the video is requesting @justinsuntron to clarify whether the scam has anything to do with him.https://t.co/59gBKFOTpF
— Jason Choi (@mrjasonchoi) July 8, 2019
Tron CEO Justin Sun responded on Twitter:
#TRON partner office operating normally after Wave Field Community protesters disrupt morning operations, resulting in police presence. Continued sympathy for those defrauded; working with police to try to help. #TRX $TRX https://t.co/XGkCPjjdl1
— Justin Sun (@justinsuntron) July 8, 2019
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.
Tron image via Shutterstock.