Justin Sun asked Donald Trump to attend his lunch with Warren Buffett after the president criticized cryptocurrencies on Twitter.
"I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies, which are not money, and whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air," Trump tweeted on July 12. "Unregulated Crypto Assets can facilitate unlawful behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activity."
Sun invited the president to the Buffett lunch less than three hours later.
"Mr. President, you are misled by fake news," he tweeted. "#Bitcoin & #Blockchain happens to be the best chance for US!"
"I'd love to invite you to have lunch with crypto leaders along with @WarrenBuffett on July 25," he continued. "I guarantee you after this lunch, nobody will know crypto more than you!"
Trump hasn't publicly responded to Sun's invite.
Charlie Lee is the creator of Litecoin, the fifth-largest cryptocurrency with a $4.3 billion market capitalization, according to CoinMarketCap. Lee was at the top of Sun's invite list.
"I'm thrilled to invite my good friend @SatoshiLite, creator of Litecoin, to be the 1st guest to join my lunch with @WarrenBuffett," Sun tweeted on June 16. "More friends to be announced!"
Lee accepted the invite later that day.
"Thanks Justin! I'm excited about this opportunity to meet a legend," he tweeted.
Changpeng Zhao is the founder and CEO of Binance, a global cryptocurrency exchange where users can trade more than 100 cryptocurrencies. Zhao declined Sun's lunch invite, saying he couldn't make the trip to San Francisco.
".@justinsuntron kindly invited me to go, but I can't make it," Zhao tweeted. "Too far. I guess that's like turning down $1,000,000, assuming 5 guys going, lol... But very much appreciated."
However, Zhao made time to ridicule Buffett, a vocal cryptocurrency critic who has dismissed bitcoin as "rat poison squared."
"I guess Buffet will be eating a lunch funded by 'rat poison' after all, lol," Zhao tweeted. "It's good to be famous, people pay millions of dollars to educate you," he added in another tweet.
Livio Weng is the CEO of Huobi, a Hong Kong-listed company founded in China and run out of Singapore. Huobi runs a major online cryptocurrency exchange and operates Huobi Token, the 14th largest cryptocurrency.
We couldn't find Sun's invitation to Weng on Twitter, but the Tron boss name-checked Huobi in another tweet.
"As of now we've only invited @SatoshiLite of Litecoin, @Binance and @HuobiGlobal to the @WarrenBuffett lunch," Sun wrote on July 5.
Vitalik Buterin is the co-founder of Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency with a market cap of $19 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. Sun invited Buterin to the lunch, but the Ethereum co-founder hasn't publicly accepted, FT Alphaville said.
Sun and Buterin have jostled and clashed on Twitter in the past.
When Elon Musk tweeted the word "Ethereum" in April, Buterin invited the Tesla and SpaceX boss to attend his company's Devcon conference in October. Eager to share the spotlight, Sun replied to Musk's tweet with the names of his two companies: "TRON" and "BitTorrent."
Moreover, after Sun tweeted last December that Ethereum's bull run was fueled by hype, Buterin suggested Sun was a "self-identified shill" who's "not worth listening to."
Yoni Assia is the CEO of eToro, a social-trading platform where users can buy and sell multiple assets including stocks, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies, as well as mirror other investors' trades.
"I'd like to invite my good friend @yoniassia, Founder & CEO of @eToro, to join my lunch with @WarrenBuffett," Sun tweeted. "4 days to go and more friends to be announced!"
Assia replied in under 10 minutes.
"Justin, it is my honor to join you for lunch with @WarrenBuffett, A big step for bridging between the traditional finance world and the new one!" he wrote.
"There is a huge opportunity to use #BlockChainForGood and happy to share our research on @TheGoodDollar with #TheOracleFromOmaha," he added.
Jeremy Allaire is the founder and CEO of Circle, a peer-to-peer payments company that has received over $100 million in funding from the likes of Goldman Sachs. Circle aims to bring digital currency into the mainstream.
"I'd like to invite my good friend @jerallaire, Co-founder & CEO of Circle, to join my lunch with @WarrenBuffett," Sun tweeted. "7 days to go and more friends to be announced!"
Allaire replied three minutes later.
"Hi Justin, I would be honored to join you and @WarrenBuffett next week to discuss crypto!!" he wrote.
"Count me in. Crypto is now a major global policy issue and there is a great deal for Mr Buffet to understand and for us to learn from him as well," Allaire added.
Helen Haiyu is the head of blockchain at Binance Charity Foundation, the cryptocurrency exchange's non-profit arm. The foundation engages in blockchain-powered philanthropy, and has raised money for causes such as disaster relief, education, and combating hunger, according to its website.
"I'd like to invite my good friend @helenhaiyu, Head of @BinanceBCF, to join my lunch with @WarrenBuffett," Sun tweeted. "5 days to go and more friends to be announced! @binance."
Haiyu replied five minutes later.
"It is my great honor to join @justinsuntron and @WarrenBuffett next week to discuss crypto & philanthropy," she wrote.
Chris Lee — also known as Li Shufei — is the head of finance at Huobi, the crypto exchange.
"I'd like to invite @Chrislee_crypto, the CFO, Board Secretary and VP of International Business Development from @HuobiGlobal to join my Charity lunch with @WarrenBuffett," Sun tweeted. "3 days to go and more friends to be announced!"
"Thanks for Justin's invitation! @justinsuntron It's my great honor to be the guest of this remarkable event," Lee replied.
"@warrenBuffett Lookin forward to meeting with blockchain iconic fellows & Mr. Buffett to share knowledge of blockchain/crypto and traditional finance world @HuobiGlobal," he added.
