Justin Sun, the founder and CEO of Tron is not new to controversies and this time around he has stirred up controversy by promising to give away a Tesla to one lucky Twitter follower who retweeted his post.
Here is the statement for your reference. pic.twitter.com/UmBjxxX6oJ
— H.E. Justin Sun ??? (@justinsuntron) March 29, 2019
As per the statement issued on Friday, he’s now giving away two.
To bring awareness to the blockchain community, keep fostering transparency, reliability & openness in our values, I decided to offer two Tesla! Congratulations @uzgaroth & @LeoHuynhPro thanks for believing in our mission. More info in my statement https://t.co/mECuxQMq0d pic.twitter.com/H9eBLAqNoO
— H.E. Justin Sun ??? (@justinsuntron) March 29, 2019
A Washington, D.C.-based account, @uzgaroth identified as the initial winner was revealed in a video. However, Sun promptly followed up with more tweets claiming there was a glitch in the selection process.
Here is the original video of @justinsuntron
Enjoy!#trx #tron $trx #Tesla#winners #ETH #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/6baRddu52o
— TRON (@Tronics4L) March 28, 2019
Notably, Sun would try again to select a new winner with a live video, following a process that is previously tested with a giveaway in China on the social network Weibo. Instead of the Tesla, Sun is now offering the thwarted contestant a free ticket to the next Tron conference in 2020.
After receiving a few hours of backlash on social media, Sun issued a statement on Medium, that stated:
“I’ve happily decided to give away two Teslas to further my mission of creating transparency, reliability and openness about blockchain.”
The second winner is a Vietnam-based user called @LeoHuynhPro. As per the original tweet on March 12 promised that this car giveaway was only the beginning an additional give away $20 million in a “free cash airdrop.”
To celebrate #BTT & #USDT–#TRON success, I am planning a $20m free cash airdrop. Good news-it's coming, bad news-I may decide to give away more! First, I will randomly pick 1 winner for a #Tesla up until 3/27! To apply, follow me and RT this tweet! Simple! #Blockchain pic.twitter.com/wFyzwtB3ur
— H.E. Justin Sun ??? (@justinsuntron) March 12, 2019
Tron spokesperson Cliff Edwards spoke about the Tesla controversy to CoinDesk, stating that Sun is “giving away money to fans to try to grow interest in the industry.” he further added:
“This is a Justin initiative, not Tron or BitTorrent. This is Justin personally offering his Twitter fans a chance to win a car.”
Interestingly, this statement is in direct contradiction with Edwards earlier statement to CoinDesk in January, where he spoke this in regards to a job posting for a personal assistant for Sun. He said at the time, “Since Tron is self-funded by Justin, the two are essentially one and the same.”
In regards to this giveaway, Edwards said on Friday that the money behind them comes from Sun’s personal wealth from previous ventures and not the $70 million raised during the Tron token sale in 2017 or the $7.2 million raised in the BitTorrent token sale earlier this year.
Well, regardless of the fund’s source, this isn’t the first time Sun or the Tron Foundation have been accused of failing to keep their promises to competition winners. In December 2018, the Tron Foundation sponsored a Tron Accelerator hackathon where the top 56 teams were promised cash rewards totaling $1 million.
However, that did not happen and Edward elaborated that so many high-quality submissions were made that Sun decided to give “less money” to “more winners.”
As for the recent controversy, Edwards said:
“This is Justin setting the rules for these things. This is Justin’s money, not Tron or BitTorrent.”
Read more:Bitmain Is Prepping For Bitcoin Block Halving 2020 With New Mining Hardware
Image Source: Justin Sun Twitter
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