Tron founder Justin Sun has taken legal action against World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency firm with ties to the Trump family, alleging that the company froze his $WLFI token holdings without justification, made false claims, and engaged in threatening behavior. The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, asserts that World Liberty's leadership participated in an 'illegal scheme to seize property' in the form of Sun's tokens, which he claims to have purchased after being approached by the company in 2024.
According to the suit, Sun invested $45 million in $WLFI tokens due to the project's purported commitment to decentralized finance and its association with the Trump family. A spokesperson for World Liberty Financial declined to comment on the lawsuit.
The filing states that World Liberty requested Sun to continue investing in 2025, including a proposal to mint the company's USD1 stablecoin. However, when Sun refused to invest on their terms, the company's principals allegedly became hostile towards him. The lawsuit claims that World Liberty made fraudulent misrepresentations about the economic rights and freedoms associated with purchasing $WLFI tokens, including statements about token holder rights and the 'freedom to transact.' Sun's suit also alleges that World Liberty, despite presenting itself as a decentralized finance business, exerted centralized control over its tokens. The complaint states that World Liberty modified the smart contract governing $WLFI in August 2025 to add a 'blacklisting' function, allowing the company to freeze tokens in specific wallets without informing investors or putting it to a governance vote.
The lawsuit claims that this modification enabled World Liberty to freeze Sun's tokens, serving a dual purpose: pressuring him to mint $200 million of the company's USD1 stablecoin on the Tron blockchain and manipulating the market price of $WLFI tokens by preventing one of the largest holders from selling. By locking up Sun's position, the complaint argues, World Liberty artificially inflated the market price of $WLFI tokens held by the company's founders and treasury. The filing also raises regulatory concerns, suggesting that World Liberty's ability to issue, freeze, and reassign tokens may qualify it as a money transmitter under U.S.
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network rules, subjecting it to registration and anti-money laundering requirements. Other allegations in the complaint include threats made by World Liberty's co-founder, Chase Herro, against Sun and his businesses. Herro allegedly threatened to burn Sun's $WLFI tokens if he did not request that they be burned and falsely claimed that Sun's know-your-customer documentation was inadequate, threatening to report him to U.S. authorities.
Portions of the lawsuit were redacted, with an attached filing citing a confidentiality provision and giving the World Liberty team the opportunity to decide whether the redacted provisions should remain sealed. In a social media post, Sun stated that he had attempted to resolve the situation in good faith and sought equal treatment as other early investors who received tokens. He also expressed opposition to a new governance proposal published by World Liberty on April 15.
Sun recently settled charges with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, agreeing to pay a $10 million fine to resolve a case brought by the previous presidential administration.