First Digital Claims Techteryx Requested $500M Transfer, Counters Justin Sun’s Accusations

Funds Transferred in Multiple Transactions

First Digital Trust (FDT), the stablecoin issuer currently embroiled in a bitter dispute with Tron blockchain founder Justin Sun, said it transferred over $500 million in TUSD reserves to the Dubai-based ARIA Fund at the request of Techteryx. FDT said the transfers, which it characterized as investments in ARIA commodities, were made over multiple transactions.

To back this claim, FDT shared a letter from Techteryx purporting to instruct FDT CEO Vincent Chok to invest up to $200 million into ARIA commodities. The letter, dated March 14, 2022, shows Techteryx’s Alex de Lorraine imploring Chok to reach out if he had any questions.

The letter adds a new twist to the brewing saga that started after Sun, an adviser to Techteryx, accused FDT of transferring $456 million from TUSD’s custodial funds without authorization. The Tron founder followed that up by launching a $50 million bounty to help recover the siphoned funds. As reported by Bitcoin.com News, reports of FDT’s impropriety also prompted a Hong Kong lawmaker to warn of dire consequences should the allegations prove true.

However, in its April 7 X post, FDT not only dismissed the “false” allegations but also shared screenshots explaining its relationship with Techteryx since 2021. It also defended its actions and said its mandate under the agreement required it to abide by instructions issued by Techteryx.

“Our custody agreement states ‘we will take no view on the efficacy or soundness of any investment decisions made by the Client,'” FDT’s X post stated.

Immediately after the dispute initially broke out, the stablecoin FUSD briefly depegged, dropping to $0.91 on April 2. However, by April 4, the stablecoin had recovered to near parity with the USD, despite Sun’s insolvency claims.