Tron founder Justin Sun has initiated a lawsuit against World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency firm with ties to the family of former US President Donald Trump, alleging that the company improperly froze his $WLFI token holdings and made false representations. The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, asserts that World Liberty's leadership engaged in an unlawful scheme to seize Sun's tokens, which he claims to have purchased after being solicited by the company in 2024. According to the suit, Sun invested $45 million in $WLFI tokens due to the project's purported commitment to promoting decentralized finance, a cause Sun deeply cares about, as well as the involvement of the Trump family.
A spokesperson for World Liberty Financial declined to comment on the lawsuit. The filing alleges that World Liberty asked Sun to continue investing in 2025, including a request to mint the company's USD1 stablecoin. However, when it became apparent that Sun would not invest or mint USD1 on their terms, World Liberty's principals allegedly became hostile towards him. The lawsuit claims that World Liberty induced Sun to invest through fraudulent misrepresentations about the economic rights and liberties associated with purchasing $WLFI tokens.
These alleged misrepresentations include statements about token holder rights, public statements by World Liberty or its executives regarding governance rights, and claims about 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 disclosing this change to investors or putting it to a governance vote.
The lawsuit argues that World Liberty's freezing of Sun's tokens served two purposes: coercing him to mint $200 million of the company's USD1 stablecoin on the Tron blockchain and manipulating the market price of $WLFI by preventing one of the largest holders from selling. By locking up Sun's position, the complaint asserts that World Liberty artificially inflated the market price of $WLFI tokens held by the company's founders and treasury. The filing raises regulatory concerns, suggesting that World Liberty's ability to issue, freeze, and reassign tokens may qualify it as a money transmitter under US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network rules, subjecting it to registration and anti-money laundering requirements.
Other allegations 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 Sun did not request their destruction and falsely claimed that Sun's know-your-customer documentation was inadequate, threatening to report him to US authorities.
Portions of the lawsuit have been redacted, with Sun's team offering the World Liberty team an 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 equal treatment as other early investors who received tokens.
He also expressed opposition to World Liberty's new governance proposal published on April 15. Since Trump took office, Sun has visited the US after previously avoiding the country and was a guest at a Trump-linked crypto project's dinner last year. Recently, Sun settled charges with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, agreeing to pay a $10 million fine to resolve a case from the previous presidential administration.