The $456 million reserve shortfall that forced Justin Sun to bail out the token holders of the TrueUSD stablecoin is now the subject of a worldwide freezing order upheld by Dubai’s Digital Economy Court.
The dispute centers on whether funds from TrueUSD’s reserves were improperly funneled into Aria Commodities DMCC, a Dubai-based trade finance firm that financed commodity shipments, mining projects and other illiquid ventures across emerging markets, according to the plaintiff’s lawyer.
Aria, which is part of a group of entities controlled by financier Matthew William Brittain, received the money in 2021 and 2022 through accounts managed by Hong Kong trustee First Digital Trust.
First Digital Trust did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CoinDesk.
Techteryx claims that these transfers violated its escrow terms and turned cash reserves into long-term loans and private agreements that could not be redeemed when stablecoin holders sought withdrawals.
In earlier comments to CoinDesk, Aria Group’s Matthew Brittain said the issue of liquidity was more of a matter of forward commitments.
“ARIA CFF has never lasted [its] strategy out as very liquid or appropriate for a stablecoin’s reserves,” he previously told CoinDesk.
In his ruling, dated October 17, 2025, Judge Michael Black KC said Techteryx had shown “serious issues that needed to be tried” and that the funds should be frozen to prevent them from being moved or hidden before Hong Kong courts could determine ownership.
Black said he found that Techteryx had demonstrated a credible claim that the funds were held on constructive trust, while Aria had provided “no evidence” of how the money was transferred or who owned the assets purchased with it.
He also cited a “real risk” that Brittain, Aria’s controlling mind, could disperse or restructure assets “to frustrate the enforcement of any judgment.”
The ruling marks the first worldwide freezing order issued by Dubai’s Digital Economy Court.
