Recently, I remembered Justin Sun again. In the stories of the crypto world, his experiences are truly the most surreal.

This guy was born in 1990, from Qinghai. In his early years, he didn’t stand out much academically. But in 2007, he was admitted to Peking University through some kind of manipulation, even though he was still at a third-tier level at the time. This caused quite a bit of discussion in the education circle, with some saying he exploited loopholes in the system. Anyway, he later received the Lee Teng-Hui Scholarship and went to the U.S. in 2011.

What truly changed Justin Sun’s fate was in 2012. He keenly perceived the value of Bitcoin and decisively invested a large sum of money. Within less than a year, Bitcoin earned him over 10 million dollars, and this initial wealth propelled him fully into the crypto scene. Afterwards, he started attaching various labels to himself—“Berkshire Hathaway alumnus,” “Penn graduate,” “Tesla investor,” and “Bitcoin holder,” among others, all sounding quite glamorous.

In 2015, he was selected for the first batch of Hupan University, and was the only 90s-born student, which brought him into contact with Jack Ma, making him quite the buzz. That same year, he also made the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. But what really made Justin Sun famous was the launch of the TRON project in 2017. Although there were accusations of code plagiarism, TRON’s blockchain developed rapidly and soon became one of the world’s top three public chains.

However, problems arose. In 2018, Justin Sun dumped 6 billion TRX tokens at a high price, cashing out 12 billion RMB. This move earned him the nickname “Sun Cut,” and some even compared him to Jia Yueting in the crypto world. Afterwards, he moved to the U.S. to continue operating TRON, avoiding the storm of public opinion in China.

As his wealth grew, Justin Sun became one of the largest private holders of Ethereum, with his personal assets skyrocketing from 10 million to 10 billion yuan. In 2019, he did something that shook the world—spending 30 million dollars to buy a lunch with Warren Buffett. This drew widespread attention, with everyone speculating about what kind of interaction they would have. But in the end, Justin Sun repeatedly canceled on Buffett, becoming the first to mock the “Oracle of Omaha.” This farce made him a household name but also caused Buffett to become wary of dining with Chinese people. Interestingly, riding on this hype, Justin Sun cashed out over 100 million yuan worth of TRX, demonstrating his sharp business acumen.

By 2022, Justin Sun spent 10 million USD to acquire Grenada citizenship and became a diplomatic ambassador for the region. This change in status granted him diplomatic immunity, and he used this to meet with key figures from Singapore, Russia, the EU WTO, and others, gaining influence on the international stage.

Looking back at Justin Sun’s life trajectory—from an ordinary student to a crypto tycoon, and then to a controversial public figure—every step has been filled with controversy. Some say he’s a business genius, adept at seizing opportunities to rapidly accumulate wealth; others see him as a speculator, disrupting market order through improper means. Regardless of the evaluation, Justin Sun’s story has become a microcosm of this era, witnessing the madness and bubbles of Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency industry.