Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, has initiated a lawsuit against World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency firm with ties to the family of former U.S. President Donald Trump. The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, accuses World Liberty of freezing Sun's $WLFI token holdings unjustly, making fraudulent claims, and engaging in threatening and defamatory behavior towards him.
According to the lawsuit, Sun invested $45 million in $WLFI tokens after being approached by World Liberty's team in 2024, partly due to the project's alleged commitment to decentralized finance and its association with the Trump family. However, when Sun declined to continue investing in 2025, including a request to mint World Liberty's USD1 stablecoin, the company's attitude towards him became hostile. The lawsuit claims that World Liberty misled investors, including Sun, through false statements about the rights and freedoms associated with purchasing $WLFI tokens.
It also alleges that the company exercised centralized control over its tokens, contrary to its claims of operating in the decentralized finance sector. In August 2025, World Liberty modified the smart contract governing $WLFI to include 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 this move was used to pressure Sun into minting $200 million of the USD1 stablecoin on the Tron blockchain and to artificially inflate the market price of $WLFI tokens held by World Liberty's founders and treasury. Furthermore, the complaint alleges that World Liberty's ability to issue, freeze, and reassign tokens may subject it to registration and anti-money laundering requirements as a money transmitter under U.S.
regulations. Other allegations include threats made by World Liberty's co-founder, Chase Herro, against Sun and his businesses, including a threat to burn Sun's $WLFI tokens and to report him to U.S. authorities over allegedly inadequate know-your-customer documentation. Portions of the lawsuit have been redacted, with Sun's team offering World Liberty the opportunity to decide whether these provisions should remain sealed.
In a public statement, Sun expressed his desire to resolve the situation amicably and to be treated equally to other early investors. He also voiced his opposition to a new governance proposal published by World Liberty. This development comes after Sun settled charges with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, agreeing to pay a $10 million fine, and follows his increased presence in the U.S.
after previously avoiding the country.