A heated public dispute between Tron founder Justin Sun and WLFI, a crypto project linked to the Trump family, escalated on Wednesday after Sun vehemently criticized a new governance proposal, labeling it as one of the most 'absurd governance scams' he has encountered. In a detailed post, Sun accused WLFI of designing a vote that penalizes token holders who oppose the proposal, with those who vote against it risking indefinite token lockups. Furthermore, Sun alleged that he and other major token holders had been excluded from the voting process, claiming that tokens representing approximately 4% of the voting power under his control had been frozen. Sun questioned the legitimacy of the vote, suggesting that control over the protocol lies with anonymous wallet addresses, including a multisignature setup that can override outcomes and a separate account with the power to blacklist users.
The proposal in question would overhaul token lockups across the WLFI ecosystem, affecting over 62 billion tokens with new terms including multi-year lockups and vesting schedules. Token holders who do not accept the new terms would remain locked indefinitely. Sun's criticism was echoed by Simon Dedic, founder of Moonrock Capital, who stated that early investors had been 'rugged' by the Trump family.
A spokesperson for World Liberty Financial defended the proposal, stating that it was designed to align all participants in the WLFI ecosystem for the long term, ensuring healthy market supply. The backlash marks the latest episode in the deteriorating relationship between Sun and WLFI, with tensions escalating over the past few months.
Earlier this week, WLFI threatened legal action against Sun, who had accused the project of exploiting users through DeFi transactions. The dispute has been building since September, when WLFI blacklisted a blockchain address linked to Sun, and has intensified in recent weeks, with both parties engaging in a war of words.