Justin Sun’s Tron is planning to list on the Nasdaq stock exchange through a de-merger with SRM Entertainment. The new entity will be called Tron Inc.
Justin Sun's Tron Plans Public Share Sale on US Nasdaq Exchange
18 June 2025 - 17:37 CEST
According to SRM’s US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing, published on Monday 16 June, Tron will pay SRM $100 million in Tron tokens (TRX) for the preferred stock shares and warrants to enable the deal, essentially a restructuring into two separate entities.
“This time the big one is finally here”
SRM’s shares shot up on the news, from $1.43 to $4.48 in Monday's pre-market hours, peaking at $10.83 at around 16:15 UTC – a clear indication that plenty of stock market investors are keen on crypto. For comparison, Circle started trading at $31 at its IPO on 5 June and the stock is now at about $150.
Also on Monday, Sun took to social media platform X to show his enthusiasm: “This time the big one is finally here.”
Political play
Sun is integrally involved in the Trump family crypto world. He was one of the few people to publicize his attendance at the 22 May dinner for the biggest Trump meme coin investors. Sun said at the time he was the biggest of those investors.
He also said he has invested $75 million in World Liberty Financial, the USD1 stablecoin issuer that is controlled by the Trump family.
In addition, Dominari Securities, which has its offices in the Trump Tower in New York, said in a statement it's the exclusive placement agent for the transaction.
Dominari counts Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. among its advisors and has raised funds for Elon Musk’s companies, including SpaceX.
Stretching the net even wider, Metaplanet, the Japanese hotel management group turned Bitcoin treasury company which has recently announced its IPO in Tokyo, also has Eric Trump as an advisor.
Clearing the Regulatory Path
The Tron IPO comes a few months after the SEC paused its investigation into Tron and two other Sun companies. The allegations, dating from 2023, centred around accusations of market manipulation and the sale of unregistered securities.
Likewise, Gemini – whose founders are deeply connected to Tron’s political ecosystem – filed for an IPO earlier this month, following its own SEC investigation, which concluded earlier in 2025. The political backdrop runs deep: the Winklevoss brothers , co-founders of Gemini and prominent Bitcoin holders, each made significant Bitcoin donations to Trump’s 2024 election campaign.
The changing regulatory climate in the US – with companies that were under investigation by a federal regulator now accepting members of the public as their shareholders – stems in part from the second Trump administration’s highly supportive approach to cryptocurrencies.
Pivoting businesses
Like Simon Gerovich at Metaplanet, Sun has transformed an existing business into a crypto firm. SRM Entertainment is a Florida-based business that makes toys based on characters, from Benji Black Bear backpacks to Della Dolphin binoculars and Smurf water-bottles. It will now be renamed as Tron but has not announced any plans to stop making plush toys under the SRM brand.
Dividends tied to coin performance
Tron Inc. will hold TRX on the company’s balance sheet and pay a dividend – a distribution of earnings – tied to its performance. This is a similar model to Michael Saylor’s Strategy, which announced its own limited IPO at the beginning of June, raising funds both for working capital and to buy more Bitcoin.
This flurry of IPOs is being enabled by the White House's pro-crypto stance, which in turn is defining the coming digital asset regulatory regime in the US.
