The Block: Tron Foundation declines to comment on coronavirus relief funding report

The Tron Foundation has declined to comment on a report circulating in Chinese media that it has received stimulus funding from the U.S. government.

Tron representative Ryan Dennis told The Block: "We are a private company and this being a financial matter, we are unable to comment. I am happy to share, however, that our first priority is to always follow laws/rules/regulations of the governing bodies wherein we build our worldwide community."

A news report from Jinse Finance dated May 5 and citing "foreign media reports" states that Tron received "17 million yuan" (worth roughly $2.4 million) and that a second batch is pending. It's not clear at this time from where those "foreign media reports" were sourced. Additionally, a circulating link to a Tron social media account also includes text about the supposed funding.

The CARES Act, signed into law in late March , included hundreds of billions of dollars in relief funds to affected U.S. businesses. The bill, worth $2.2 trillion, was the largest piece of stimulus legislation in modern American history.

Given the non-denial from Tron, it's possible that the U.S. business entity that maintains the Tron office in San Francisco could have successfully applied for coronavirus relief. Tron also owns BitTorrent , another U.S.-based company, as well as Steemit, Inc., the latter of which is based in New York.

The program has attracted steep criticism since its roll-out, however. Small businesses have said that they were unable to tap the program at its inception due to a flood of requests, and reports have strongly indicated that larger businesses with banking connections were able to obtain access more quickly. A second tranche of payroll protection funding was approved last month.

Reporting by Yogita Khatri