<p>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.</p> <p>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."</p> <p><a href="https://www.jinse.com/lives/164796.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">A news report</a> 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 <a href="https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/nRUOTvdLAMJo2uEJc5fA6w" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">circulating link</a> to a Tron social media account also includes text about the supposed funding.</p> <p>The CARES Act, <a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/60181/trump-signs-2-2-trillion-coronavirus-relief-bill-into-law" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">signed into law in late March</a>, 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.</p> <p>Given the non-denial from Tron, it's possible that the U.S. business entity that maintains <a href="https://twitter.com/justinsuntron/status/949683592136859648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E949683592136859648&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fquebecnewstribune.com%2Fnews%2Ftron-opening-new-office-san-francisco-1269%2F" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Tron office in San Francisco</a> could have successfully applied for coronavirus relief. Tron <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/tron-foundation-completes-acquisition-of-bittorrent" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">also owns BitTorrent</a>, another U.S.-based company, as well as Steemit, Inc., the latter of which is based in New York.</p> <p>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. </p> <p><em>Reporting by Yogita Khatri</em></p>