Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, has initiated a lawsuit against World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency firm with ties to the family of former US President Donald Trump. The lawsuit claims that World Liberty unfairly froze Sun's $WLFI tokens and made fraudulent representations, while also threatening and defaming him. According to the lawsuit, Sun had invested $45 million in $WLFI tokens after being solicited by World Liberty in 2024, partly due to the project's connection to the Trump family. However, when Sun refused to continue investing in 2025, World Liberty's leadership allegedly became hostile towards him.
The lawsuit alleges that World Liberty made false statements about the rights of token holders and the governance of $WLFI, and that the company had centralized control over its tokens despite presenting itself as a decentralized finance project. World Liberty is also accused of changing the smart contract governing $WLFI without disclosing it to investors, allowing the company to freeze tokens at will. The complaint argues that this freezing of Sun's tokens served to pressure him into minting $200 million of World Liberty's USD1 stablecoin and to manipulate the market price of $WLFI. The lawsuit raises regulatory concerns, suggesting that World Liberty's actions may qualify it as a money transmitter under US 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. Sun has stated that he tried to resolve the situation amicably but was left with no choice but to take legal action, seeking to be treated equally as other early investors.