Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, has initiated a lawsuit against World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency firm with ties to the family of former U.S. President Donald Trump. The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, claims that World Liberty Financial unjustly seized Sun's $WLFI tokens, engaged in fraudulent activities, and defamed him.
According to the lawsuit, Sun invested $45 million in $WLFI tokens after being approached by World Liberty's team in 2024, partly due to the project's connection to the Trump family and its purported aim to promote decentralized finance. However, when Sun declined to invest further or mint World Liberty's USD1 stablecoin in 2025, the company's attitude towards him allegedly turned hostile. The lawsuit alleges that World Liberty used deceitful tactics to convince Sun to invest, including false statements about the rights of token holders and the freedom to conduct transactions. It is also claimed that World Liberty exerted centralized control over its tokens, contrary to its decentralized finance claims.
In August 2025, World Liberty modified the smart contract governing $WLFI to introduce a 'blacklisting' function, enabling the company to freeze tokens in specific wallets without informing investors or putting it to a governance vote. This modification allegedly allowed World Liberty to freeze Sun's tokens, pressuring him to mint $200 million of the USD1 stablecoin and artificially inflating the market price of $WLFI tokens held by the company's founders and treasury. The lawsuit further claims that World Liberty's actions may have regulatory implications, potentially qualifying the company as a money transmitter subject to registration and anti-money laundering requirements.
Additionally, the complaint includes allegations of threats made by World Liberty's co-founder, Chase Herro, against Sun and his businesses. Herro allegedly threatened to burn Sun's $WLFI tokens and to report him to U.S.
authorities over allegedly inadequate know-your-customer documentation. The lawsuit includes redacted sections, with Sun's team offering World Liberty the opportunity to decide whether these provisions should remain sealed. In a public post, Sun stated that he had attempted to resolve the situation amicably and sought equal treatment as other early investors.
He also expressed opposition to World Liberty's new governance proposal published on April 15. This development comes after Sun settled charges with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission last month, agreeing to pay a $10 million fine.