What does the reverse merger between Tron and SRM reveal about Justin Solar’s technique, and the way does Trump’s oblique involvement affect its market notion?
Tron goes public by means of the backdoor
On Jun. 16, Tron (TRX), the blockchain community based by Justin Sun, completed a reverse merger with SRM Leisure, a small Nasdaq-listed agency recognized for licensing theme park merchandise.
Valued at as much as $210 million, the deal rapidly drew consideration because of its political connections and unconventional construction. Relatively than pursuing a conventional IPO, Tron grew to become public by buying SRM by means of a reverse itemizing. The brand new entity has been rebranded as Tron Inc.
As a part of the transaction, SRM obtained a $100 million fairness funding from an unnamed personal investor to amass TRX tokens. Further warrants linked to the settlement may increase the ultimate worth, positioning the deal as one of many largest token-related mergers thus far in 2025.
Investor response was swift. SRM’s inventory jumped from $1.45 on Jun. 13 to $9.19 on Jun. 16, rising over 530%. Though it declined to $7.73 on Jun. 17, the inventory stays up roughly 850% over a five-day span.
TRX noticed a extra modest response. The token moved from a low of $0.2701 on Jun. 16 to a excessive of $0.2899 earlier than settling close to $0.2711 on the time of writing.
A key participant behind the deal was Dominari Securities, a New York-based funding financial institution working out of Trump Tower.
The agency facilitated the transaction and is owned by Dominari Holdings, whose advisory board contains Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., each of whom had been appointed in February 2025.
Hypothesis elevated when a Monetary Instances report on Jun. 16 steered that Eric Trump may quickly take a proper place at Tron Inc.
Later that day, he denied involvement in a publish on X, writing, “Whereas Justin is a good good friend and an icon within the crypto house, I’ve no public involvement within the merger plans.”
Solar has been appointed as an advisor to Tron Inc., which is able to maintain TRX tokens on its company steadiness sheet. The strategy mirrors Strategy’s Bitcoin-focused technique, additional aligning Tron Inc. with asset-backed treasury fashions.
The construction of the deal has drawn comparisons to reverse mergers utilized by Chinese language corporations within the late 2000s to enter U.S. markets. That interval prompted regulatory reforms, together with the SEC’s 2011 guidelines aimed toward curbing shell-company exercise and tightening scrutiny on international listings.
The timing has additionally raised questions. In February 2025, the SEC paused a longstanding fraud investigation into Solar, citing a reallocation of enforcement priorities. 4 months later, the merger was publicly introduced. Nonetheless, there isn’t any direct proof of misconduct thus far.
Solar’s Trump-linked crypto play
The connection between Solar and Donald Trump didn’t type all of the sudden. It started growing through the second half of 2024 by means of a collection of strategic monetary selections that aligned Solar with the Trump household’s rising involvement in crypto.
In September 2024, World Liberty Monetary (WLFI), a decentralized finance undertaking linked to the Trump community, confronted problem reaching its early fundraising targets. Solar stepped in with a $30 million funding.
Inside 4 months, he adopted up with one other $45 million, bringing his whole stake in WLFI to $75 million and establishing himself as one in all its most influential backers.
The alignment prolonged past DeFi. In January 2025, simply earlier than Trump returned to workplace, a brand new memecoin named Official Trump (TRUMP) was launched. Solar bought $20 million value of the token, making him the biggest holder amongst 220 wallets.
Blockchain information later confirmed that his pockets managed 18.6 million TRUMP tokens, with a market worth of roughly $57 million as of June 2025. Mixed together with his WLFI funding, Solar’s whole publicity to Trump-affiliated crypto initiatives exceeded $97 million.
The monetary backing translated into political entry. On Might 22, Solar attended a personal dinner at Trump Nationwide Golf Membership in Virginia alongside 24 different prime TRUMP token holders.
On the occasion, he obtained a Trump-branded watch reportedly value $100,000. The dinner was a part of a broader marketing campaign to extend visibility and distribution of the TRUMP token.
Altogether, the token sale raised roughly $148 million, with a notable share originating from nameless and worldwide wallets. The funding path has drawn scrutiny for its lack of transparency, particularly within the context of political crypto fundraising.
Trump’s personal place on digital belongings has shifted over time. After describing Bitcoin as a “rip-off” in 2021, he has adopted a extra supportive tone throughout his second time period, a change that has helped reinforce the rising alliance between his community and crypto traders like Solar.
Tron integrates USD1 on world stage
On Might 1, through the Token2049 occasion in Dubai, Justin Solar announced that his blockchain community, Tron, would combine the stablecoin USD1 by means of a brand new partnership with World Liberty Monetary (WLFI).
Standing alongside Eric Trump and WLFI co-founder Zach Witkoff, Solar stated, “I’m actually honored we will collaborate with USD1 on launching this stablecoin to additional make this obtainable to 7 billion folks on Earth.”
USD1 is pegged to the U.S. greenback and backed by a mixture of short-term authorities treasuries, greenback deposits, and different cash-equivalent reserves.
Witkoff said that USD1 might be natively integrated into the Tron blockchain, with preliminary minting anticipated within the lots of of tens of millions of {dollars} and ambitions to scale right into a multi-billion-dollar market cap.
HTX, the crypto change intently tied to Solar, grew to become the primary platform to record USD1, extending its availability to a broader market.
The identical day, WLFI was additionally revealed to be concerned in a $2 billion funding deal between Abu Dhabi’s MGX sovereign wealth fund and Binance. Eric Trump confirmed that USD1 had been chosen because the official settlement token for the transaction.
The choice sparked criticism because of Binance’s authorized file within the U.S. In 2023, the change pleaded responsible to money-laundering violations and paid a $4 billion tremendous as a part of its settlement with U.S. regulators.
Ethics specialists and lawmakers reacted swiftly. Richard Briffault of Columbia Regulation College commented that Trump appeared to be “advertising and marketing entry to himself as a option to revenue from his ventures,” calling the scenario “doubly corrupt.”
Senator Elizabeth Warren described the deal as “corruption,” pointing particularly to the MGX partnership for instance of how political stablecoins may very well be utilized by international pursuits to realize affect.
She additionally voiced opposition to the GENIUS Act, a pending invoice targeted on stablecoin oversight, warning that it may permit politically related households to take advantage of gaps in monetary regulation. Regardless of the criticism, the Senate handed the GENIUS Act on Jun. 17.
Crypto enforcement is now a political query
In February 2025, the U.S. SEC paused a civil fraud lawsuit filed in 2023 towards Solar and the Tron Basis. The case accused Solar of conducting unregistered securities choices and manipulating token markets. The company cited settlement discussions as the premise for halting proceedings.
The choice got here shortly after Solar invested in World Liberty Monetary and purchased a big place within the Trump-affiliated TRUMP memecoin.
The SEC’s transfer was not an remoted one. Over the next two months, the company paused or dropped at the least a dozen extra crypto-related enforcement actions.
In response, Senator Jeff Merkley launched the “Finish Crypto Corruption” invoice in Might 2025. The laws proposes restrictions on federal officers from taking part in or cashing in on crypto ventures whereas in workplace or after leaving public service.
The invoice at present has 22 Democratic co-sponsors however faces little probability of advancing in a Senate the place Republicans maintain the bulk.
In the meantime, the general public itemizing of Tron Inc. has drawn consideration to the function of crypto corporations in conventional monetary markets. Reverse mergers, although permitted below U.S. legislation, are topic to added scrutiny, notably when involving international sponsors or entities with previous compliance points.
Present SEC steerage mentions dangers related to such listings, particularly in circumstances the place investor protections or monetary disclosures could also be missing. Any future prices may impression Tron Inc.’s public standing and investor confidence.
As Tron Inc. enters the general public enviornment, it carries greater than a token mannequin. It carries a check of whether or not establishments will guard the road between personal acquire and public accountability, or quietly step apart.
