Billionaire’s $6.3m ‘bride price’ stunt could backfire

Shuli Ren

Just when Bitcoin seemed to be breaking out of its long winter, a publicity stunt by one of the crypto industry’s most prominent billionaires is raising questions as to whether this asset class should be in mainstream investors’ portfolios.

Justin Sun, the Trump family’s earliest and biggest crypto backer, is suing a Chinese actress and her parents to recover what he describes as a bride price of 30 million yuan ($6.3 million). In a long essay posted on X, titled “My Girlfriend Jing Tian,” he recounts their relationship and portrays Jing as high-maintenance and money-hungry.

This dispute has captivated Chinese society and the crypto world. The original August 27 X post alone has garnered 40 million views. In response, Jing wrote on Chinese social media Weibo, where she has more than 26 million followers, that she would never trade love for money and believes that justice would prevail.

With an estimated net worth of $US8.3 billion, Sun is an expert in creating media buzz, sometimes as a way to boost the value of his business dealings. He is known for spending $US6.2 million at Sotheby’s on a conceptual artwork composed of a fresh banana stuck to a wall — and eating it in front of reporters afterwards.