Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, 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 defamatory behavior. The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, asserts that World Liberty's leadership participated in an illicit scheme to seize property, specifically Sun's tokens, which he claims to have purchased after being approached by the company in 2024. Sun invested $45 million in $WLFI tokens, reportedly due to the project's potential to promote decentralized finance and its connection to the Trump family. A spokesperson for World Liberty Financial declined to comment on the lawsuit.
According to the filing, World Liberty asked Sun to continue investing in 2025, including a request to mint the company's USD1 stablecoin. However, when Sun refused to invest on their terms, the company's attitude towards him allegedly became hostile.
The lawsuit claims that World Liberty made false statements about the economic rights and freedoms associated with purchasing $WLFI tokens, including the governance rights of token holders and the 'freedom to transact.' Sun's suit also alleges that World Liberty, despite presenting itself as a decentralized finance company, has 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 disclosing this change to investors. This modification was allegedly used to freeze Sun's tokens, serving the dual purpose of pressuring him to mint $200 million of the company's USD1 stablecoin and manipulating the market price of $WLFI tokens.
The lawsuit argues that World Liberty's actions may not only undermine its claims of decentralization but also raise regulatory concerns, potentially qualifying the firm as a money transmitter subject 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 and falsely claimed that Sun's know-your-customer documentation was inadequate, threatening to report him to U.S. authorities.
Portions of the lawsuit have been redacted, with Sun's team giving World Liberty the opportunity to decide whether these provisions should remain sealed. In a post, Sun stated that he had attempted to resolve the situation in good faith and sought to be treated equally to other early investors. He also expressed opposition to World Liberty's new governance proposal, published on April 15.
Recently, Sun 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.