Sun Studies is trending.
In early 2026, a book from nearly a decade ago suddenly surged onto the WeRead Hot List—"This World is Both Cruel and Gentle," authored by Justin Sun.
Almost simultaneously, discussions about "Sun Studies" began to proliferate intensely across various social media platforms, both domestic and international. It echoes the saying online: In the past, people scoffed at him; now, they try to learn from him frame by frame.
When exactly did public perception of Brother Sun begin to reverse? Was it his early investment in BTC and Tesla over a decade ago? Was it two years ago when he flaunted the Xiaomi RoboDog on social media and made a heavy bet on Xiaomi? Or was it last year after returning from space and pumping TRON and $HTX......
Yes, and no. This collective reversal feels more like a reflux of the zeitgeist: as certainty recedes and upward paths become blurred, people begin to re-examine those who not only survived the chaos but even emerged victorious.
The popularity of Sun Studies is itself a signal.
"This World is Both Cruel and Gentle" Ranks Second on WeRead Soaring List
The Essence of Sun Studies is Winning
Some joke that Justin Sun is the "immortal bird of the crypto circle"; others dissect his experiences into an "extreme money-making methodology"; still others try to find a reusable survival logic from his controversies and comebacks.
Through rounds of discussion, deconstruction, and reinterpretation, Sun Studies gradually took shape.
Even Justin Sun himself joined the fray. He wrote on social media: "The essence of Sun Studies is winning. You will become a winner, no matter which corner of the earth you are in, no matter which era you live in, no matter what family you are from."
Justin Sun Shares His Views on "Sun Studies" on Social Media
If one only looks at the outcome, it's easy to overlook a fact: Justin Sun did not enter the crypto world from a safe starting point.
Coming from an ordinary background, he entered Peking University through a writing competition. Nearly every key choice thereafter was a high-stakes bet. Studying in the US, returning to China to start a business, going all-in on the crypto industry—none of these were "safe solutions" in essence.
Especially after entering the crypto circle, he was not facing a favorable situation.
Sudden regulatory changes, violent industry cycles, project skepticism, long-term media siege... at many junctures, most people might have chosen to exit quietly, preserving what they had achieved.
But Justin Sun never left the table.
Even during phases that seemed most unfavorable from the outside, he continued to push things forward—kept working on projects, kept building the ecosystem, kept maintaining presence. Among these actions, the most controversial and symbolic step was his decision to get involved with Huobi HTX.
This brings us to Justin Sun's investment philosophy.
Do What is Right from the Future's Perspective
In traditional business textbooks, investment is about asset allocation, risk hedging, and value preservation. But in the Sun Studies system, the true essence of investment is understanding the future, comprehending the future, and focusing on the future.
In 2013, he used leverage and went all-in on Bitcoin; when Tesla's market cap was less than four billion dollars, he bet on Tesla stock, breaking through ten million in personal assets.
In 2014, he advocated for not buying a house, not buying a car, and not getting married before the age of 30, investing the vast majority of one's time, money, and energy into self-improvement, personal growth, and spiritual freedom. This concept remains sharp, even across eras.
In 2016, he became the "first knowledge influencer among the post-90s generation".
A young Justin Sun in "This World is Both Cruel and Gentle"
After entering the crypto world, he was always seizing the narrative initiative: founding the TRON public chain (2017); acquiring the phenomenon-level decentralized social platform Steemit (2020); purchasing Picasso's famous painting "Femme nue couchée au collier" and turning it into an NFT (2021); getting involved with Huobi (2022), building the Dominica Metaverse (2023); promoting the establishment of HTX DAO, proposing the concept of a People's Exchange (2024); deep cooperation with the Trump family,布局 USD1 and other stablecoins, launching the Chinese decentralized contract trading platform Sun Wukong (2025)... From DeFi, NFT, metaverse to RWA and stablecoins, his technology might not be the strongest, but he made sure the market knew he was always doing the most cutting-edge, most impressive things.
Justin Sun said, "Don't be fettered by the existing stock; keep your eyes on the increment, do what is right from the future's perspective." And he has truly acted accordingly.
From Justin Sun's perspective, Huobi is not merely an exchange but a strategic chessboard capable of carrying innovation and ecosystem experiments—here, he continues to practice "doing what is right from the future's perspective," showing the market and users that continuous布局 and long-term persistence win more than short-term conservatism.
Thus, it's not hard to understand Huobi's achievements today:累计 global registered users surpassed 55 million, with 6 million new registrations in 2025 alone, annual cumulative trading volume reaching approximately $3.3 trillion... New and old users, including institutional users, are returning comprehensively.
In the new year, Justin Sun has released new "winner" signals: keep exercising, focus on AI, focus on space exploration, spatial computing, do things that interest you.
The Dimensionality Reduction Attack of an Alien
At this year's World Economic Forum in Davos, Elon Musk was asked, "Do aliens exist on Earth?" He laughed and replied, "If anyone really knows about aliens, it's probably me." Then he added, "I might be that alien."
This was of course a joke, but the joke works because it's not entirely fictional.
In highly frontier fields like space, energy, and artificial intelligence, the position Musk occupies is already beyond the comprehension coordinates of most people. His way of seeing the world is not entirely consistent with that of "Earthlings."
Interestingly, a similar metaphor appears in Justin Sun's narrative.
Ten years ago, Justin Sun said, "With technology maturing today, evolve from human to alien, achieving your goals through dimensionality reduction attacks."
The concept of "dimensionality reduction attack" originates from Liu Cixin's sci-fi novel "The Three-Body Problem," referring to an attack method where aliens use a "dual-vector foil" to reduce the solar system from three-dimensional space to two-dimensional space. In the business field, the core of a dimensionality reduction attack lies in breaking through the original competitive dimensions of an industry and reshaping the market landscape by reconstructing the rules.
The alien's dimensionality reduction attack, in Justin Sun's case, relied on two "meals"—one was the $4.56 million charity lunch with Warren Buffett, the other was a banana bought for $6.2 million.
In 2019, Justin Sun set a record price to win the charity lunch with Warren Buffett, causing a global uproar. In the eyes of the mainstream financial world, Buffett embodies value, rationality, and long-termism;而在 the crypto circle, Justin Sun represents radicalism, speed, and流量. When he forcibly brought the marginal narrative of crypto onto the central stage where Buffett resides, the conflict itself became content.
The same logic was even more直观 in the "sky-high priced banana" incident.
Maurizio Cattelan's work "Comedian," that banana duct-taped to a wall, was itself a absurd deconstruction of "value" in the art circle. Justin Sun buying it for 45 million RMB and eating it in public pushed this deconstruction to the extreme.
He understands the underlying logic of the crypto world too well: in cryptocurrency and Meme culture, value does not depend on the object itself, but on the consensus and话题 it carries. He knew clearly that he was not buying artwork, but a ticket to global headlines.
The banana is gone, but the symbol "Justin Sun ate $6.2 million" remains. He降维ed a highbrow circle that originally belonged only to art critics and collectors into a mass entertainment topic that even a random uncle on the street could chat about.
This is the Justin Sun-style "dimensionality reduction attack."
While most people are still trapped by face, rules, and traditional value judgments, he, like an "alien," follows a simple algorithm: where there is attention, there is value. It has been proven that in the era of the attention economy, this simple and粗暴 approach is often the most effective.
Justin Sun bids 45 million RMB for "Comedian" and eats it publicly
The Cost of Stability
In recent years, for many young people, "上岸"-style "stability" (like passing the civil service exam) has been packaged as a近乎 morally correct choice: a stable job, stable income, stable path. It means predictability, and它也意味着 social recognition.
However, Justin Sun pointed out sharply ten years ago: so-called stability is not only a false proposition but often brings毁灭性打击 to those who rely on it for growth. He said: "I would rather choose to die in the wilderness foraging freely than live苟活ly in the ease of a birdcage." Instead, he plunged into a path of "野蛮生长" (wild growth).
Thus, we saw a Justin Sun who果断 went出海 in 2017, a Justin Sun who remained in the spotlight even amidst舆论漩涡, a Justin Sun who publicly pursued debt from the Hong Kong trust机构 FDT, a Justin Sun who became the youngest Chinese astronaut, a Justin Sun who clinked glasses and chatted happily with the US President...
The wilder, the bigger the stage.
Justin Sun proved with his personal experience that young people need to abandon the pursuit of "stability," ignore the incomprehension and obstruction of those around them, and bravely embrace uncertainty. Because uncertainty is an important breeding ground for financial freedom. And with financial freedom, one no longer needs to compromise values for money—whether it's selling time, attention, emotion, or dignity.
"Sun Studies" is not isolated.
It highly aligns with Fukuzawa Yukichi's statement that "civilization is the liberation of individuality": one must first be spiritually independent for social status and wealth to have meaning. It also echoes what "Atlas Shrugged" repeatedly emphasizes: only those who take responsibility are qualified to talk about freedom.
Justin Sun takes a photo with a childhood picture after going to space
Indomitability is the Final Moat
In all discussions about "Sun Studies," the most easily overlooked point is: his methodology can be imitated, his narrative can be copied, but that mental structure that doesn't collapse even in desperate situations is almost impossible to transplant.
After founding TRON, challenges came one after another: sudden regulatory changes,周期性 industry crashes, project skepticism, and long-term media siege. He did not fall silent and disappear; instead, he updated daily progress on social media, even if it was just a few words. And who remembers his nightly diary entries after joining Huobi? He simply compressed all the pressure into his body, then refined it反向 into motivation that made him sharper.
Even his rumored "girlfriend" Zeng Ying, who calls herself the chief disciple of Sun Studies, evaluated him like this: "During the time I was with him, I never saw him lose emotional control for even a second... What I liked about him then was that almost paranoid 'indomitable willpower,' and the powerful vitality that could still erupt in desperate situations."
Sun Studies is actually an extremely清醒 realism:
The world is cruel because it is not responsible for anyone's emotions;
The world is gentle because it still rewards those who understand the rules and are willing to bear the consequences.
I sincerely hope that those who have always made jokes about Justin Sun can one day listen to him seriously discuss a complete issue, see how he deconstructs reality and makes long-term bets.
You don't have to like him, but it's hard to deny that he is someone who thinks seriously.
