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- Circle was recently accused of financing terrorist organizations together with Justin Sun’s Tron.
- In response, Circle has stated that it has no current relationship with Justin Sun and his affiliated companies, labeling the accusation as misleading.
It can be recalled that a non-profit watchdog group, Campaign for Accountability (CfA), recently informed Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in a letter about the roles played by crypto firms in financing terrorism. In the letter, the lawmakers were advised to carefully watch entrepreneur Justin Sun, and his blockchain TRON as well as stablecoin issuer Circle as they may be playing some roles in financing terrorist organizations.
CfA Executive Director Michelle Kuppersmith stated:
Foreign crypto firms’ role in the financing of terror may not be the full story; a domestic firm, Circle, also appears to have a role. We encourage Congress to ensure all crypto companies, including those here at home, are held accountable.
The relationship between Circle and Tron can be traced to 2021 when the stablecoin USDC was announced to be issued on the Tron blockchain. In July 2023, 26 TRON wallets that contained more than $93 million worth of Circle’s USDC, TRON’s TRX, and Tether’s USDT were seized by the National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing of Israel. This operation was highlighted in the CfA’s accusation.
In response to this allegation, Circle has issued a comprehensive letter to Senators Sherrod Brown and Elizabeth Warren, claiming the CfA report is full of errors, omissions, and misleading. According to the letter, the company has in no way directly or indirectly taken part in financing any terrorist organization.
Circle does not facilitate, directly or indirectly, or finance Hamas (or any other illicit actors). Nor does Circle Bank Justin Sun. Furthermore, Circle is subject to multiple regulatory regimes – including the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and applicable laws focused on anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism – and has forcefully advocated for a comprehensive federal prudential regulatory regime in the United States.
Circle Denies an Active Relationship with Tron
According to Circle, they have been combating illicit finance activities through partnering with regulators and law enforcement in the United States, Israel, etc. They suspect that CfA relied on the information published by blockchain firm Elliptic on the $93 million worth of cryptos seized in July. Out of the $93 million in digital assets wallets seized, only $160 was transferred in USDC, and none of that amount was acquired from Circle according to the public blockchain ledgers. This implies that the CfA’s information is misleading as disclosed in the Circle’s letter.
Also, Circle has disassociated itself from any involvement with Tron’s Justin Sun as they claim Sun or any entity under his control including TRON Foundation or Huobi Global have no account with Circle. According to Circle, the company terminated all accounts held by Sun and his affiliated companies in February this year.
To further explain its position, Circle stated that it is a highly regulated Financial service firm that applies all the laid down rules and regulations. Finally, it claims to be the most active digital service firm to campaign for a comprehensive Federal framework to regulate stablecoins.
Circle has consistently called for federal prudential regulation of stablecoins to ensure that every issuer must meet the highest reserving, redemption, disclosure, liquidity, and operational risk management standards.
Regardless of this clarification, Tron’s TRX is still up by 0.48 percent in the last 24 hours. The asset is currently trading at $0.103739 after surging by 35 percent in the last three months. Currently, TRX has a bullish score of 78/100.
