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 improperly froze his $WLFI token holdings and made deceitful 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 approached by the company's team 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 close to his heart, as well as its association with the Trump family. A spokesperson for World Liberty Financial declined to comment on the lawsuit. The filing states that World Liberty asked Sun to continue investing in 2025, including a request to mint the company's USD1 stablecoin. However, when it became clear 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 about 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. The lawsuit claims 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 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 alleges that World Liberty made overt threats to Sun and his businesses, including a threat to burn Sun's $WLFI tokens if he did not request that they be burned. Furthermore, the suit claims that World Liberty's ability to issue, freeze, and reassign tokens may not only undermine its decentralization claims but also raise regulatory concerns, potentially qualifying the firm as a money transmitter subject to registration and anti-money laundering requirements.
Sun has stated that he attempted to resolve the situation in good faith and seeks to be treated equally to other early investors who received tokens.