Tron's founder, Justin Sun, has filed a lawsuit against World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency firm with ties to the Trump family, alleging the company froze his $WLFI token holdings and made false promises. The lawsuit claims World Liberty's leadership engaged in an illegal scheme to seize Sun's assets and defame him. Sun invested $45 million in $WLFI tokens in 2024, reportedly due to the project's association with the Trump family and its claims of promoting decentralized finance.
However, when Sun refused to invest further or mint World Liberty's USD1 stablecoin, the company's principals became hostile. The lawsuit alleges World Liberty made fraudulent statements about token holders' rights and governance, and that the company has centralized control over its tokens. World Liberty modified the $WLFI smart contract to add a 'blacklisting' function, allowing the company to freeze tokens without disclosure or a governance vote. The complaint argues this allowed World Liberty to manipulate the market price of $WLFI tokens and pressure Sun to mint $200 million of the company's USD1 stablecoin.
The lawsuit also raises regulatory concerns, suggesting World Liberty's actions may qualify it as a money transmitter under U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network rules. Other allegations include threats made by World Liberty's co-founder, Chase Herro, against Sun and his businesses.
Sun has stated he tried to resolve the situation in good faith and wants to be treated equally to other early investors. He also expressed opposition to World Liberty's new governance proposal.