URGENT: TRX Surges 9% on Trump-Linked Rumors

On June 16, the price of TRON’s native token (TRX) surged by nearly 9% — from $0.27 to $0.30. Despite a subsequent correction back to around $0.28, investor interest spiked sharply following a Financial Times report suggesting that the project could go public in the U.S. through a reverse merger.

According to the publication, a company affiliated with Justin Sun plans to become publicly listed by merging with SRM Entertainment — a firm already trading on Nasdaq. The new entity is expected to actively invest in TRX and accumulate tokens following the same playbook as MicroStrategy and Michael Saylor.

Reverse merger, $210M, and the Trump connection

The deal is reportedly being orchestrated by a small investment bank, Dominari Securities, which has ties to Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. Initially, Eric was rumored to be taking a position in the new company, but he publicly denied any involvement, stating:

“I’m a big fan of TRON and admire Justin Sun — he’s truly a friend and a major figure in crypto. But I’m not involved in this project publicly.”

Still, some in the crypto community speculate that Trump may be participating “in a private capacity.”

SRM Entertainment issued a press release that didn’t confirm the deal directly but announced it had sold 100,000 shares worth $100 million to an undisclosed “private investor.” These funds will be used to form a treasury in TRX. The company also confirmed that Justin Sun has become its strategic advisor and that SRM will be renamed to Tron.

In addition, SRM plans to issue warrants for 220 million shares at an exercise price of $0.50, which could potentially bring in another $110 million — bringing the total capital raise to the reported $210 million. All securities will be placed through Dominari Securities.

SRM stock skyrockets, but Sun remains in SEC crosshairs

Investors responded rapidly: SRM shares soared by more than 500% at market open before correcting slightly. At the time of writing, shares were still up around 440%, and the company’s market cap had reached $156 million.

But not everything is smooth sailing. In 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Sun and his entities (TRON Foundation, BitTorrent Foundation, and Rainberry), accusing them of illegally offering tokens and manipulating the TRX market.

Following the U.S. presidential election and Trump’s return to the White House, the regulator softened its stance. The lawsuit involving Sun was paused, and the SEC halted enforcement actions against several major crypto companies, including Coinbase, Kraken, and Ripple.

TRON follows MicroStrategy’s path — but what’s next?

TRON tokens are set to become the foundation of the new public entity’s treasury. This mirrors Michael Saylor’s approach with Bitcoin. In 2025, several firms began to adopt this strategy, though analysts at Coinbase Institutional warn that the trend may pose systemic risks to the industry. VanEck’s Head of Digital Assets, Matthew Sigel, went further, calling such announcements “questionable” and akin to market manipulation.

Adding to the momentum, TRON has already submitted an application to launch the first spot ETF based on TRX with staking support. While this could boost institutional interest in the token, it may also increase regulatory pressure if the project fails to maintain transparent operations.