- Circle wrote an open letter to Senators Sherrod Brown and Elizabeth Warren denouncing any ties with Tron founder Justin Sun.
- In the letter, Circle also distances itself from terrorism financing.
USDC stablecoin issuer Circle has hit back at a group of US legislators over allegations of the company’s involvement in terrorism financing and ties with Tron founder Justin Sun.
On November 9, Campaign for Accountability (CfA), a non-profit watchdog group, wrote to Senators Sherrod Brown and Elizabeth Warren to “alert them on additional facts” surrounding Circle’s “apparent complicity” in terrorism financing.
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The letter also alleged that Circle “does not seem to have disengaged from Sun’s entities” despite the TRON founder having a “history of unscrupulous behavior.”
In a formal letter written by Circle’s Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Global Policy, Dante Disparte, and addressed to Senators Brown and Warren, Circle distanced itself from CfA’s allegations and asserted that the company doesn’t directly or indirectly facilitate or finance any illicit actors.
Notably, Disparte faulted CfA for basing its allegations on old reports that have all been corrected to note that Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and Hezbollah terrorist groups “may have exchanged up to $12 million in crypto since 2021” and not $93 million as alleged.
“Most importantly, public blockchain ledgers show that of the $93 million in digital assets wallets identified by the Israeli government, only $160 was transferred in USDC among those wallets, and none of that was acquired from Circle,” Disparte states.
Disparte further asserted that CfA’s letter was “replete with errors, omissions, and misleading information” about Circle’s ties with Justin Sun.
Noting that “Circle does not bank Justin Sun,” Disparte reiterated that none of the entities owned by Sun, including the TRON Foundation or Huobi Global, had active accounts with the stablecoin issuer.
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Per the letter, despite the U.S. government not having “specifically designated Mr. Sun or his entities as Specially Designated Nationals,” Circle terminated all accounts held by the TRON founder and his affiliated companies in February 2023.