Tron's founder, Justin Sun, has initiated a lawsuit against World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency firm with ties to the Trump family, alleging that the company froze his $WLFI token holdings without justification, made false representations, and issued threats against him. The lawsuit, filed recently, claims that World Liberty's leaders engaged in an unlawful scheme to seize Sun's assets, specifically his $WLFI tokens, which he purchased after being approached by the company's team in 2024.
Sun invested $45 million in $WLFI tokens, partly due to the project's affiliation with the Trump family and its purported goal of promoting decentralized finance adoption. A spokesperson for World Liberty Financial declined to comment on the lawsuit.
According to the filing, World Liberty requested that Sun continue investing in 2025, including a proposal to mint the company's USD1 stablecoin. However, when Sun refused to invest on their terms by July 2025, World Liberty's principals allegedly became hostile towards him. The lawsuit alleges that World Liberty induced Sun to invest through fraudulent misrepresentations about the economic rights and liberties associated with purchasing $WLFI tokens. These misrepresentations reportedly included statements about token holders' rights, governance, and the freedom to transact.
Sun's lawsuit also claims 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 alleges that World Liberty's actions served a dual purpose: to pressure Sun into minting $200 million of the USD1 stablecoin on his Tron blockchain and to manipulate the market price of $WLFI tokens by preventing one of the largest holders from selling.
By freezing Sun's tokens, the complaint argues, World Liberty artificially inflated the market price of $WLFI tokens held by the company's founders and treasury. The filing also raises regulatory concerns, suggesting that World Liberty's ability to issue, freeze, and reassign tokens may qualify it as a money transmitter under U.S.
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network rules, subjecting it to registration and anti-money laundering requirements. Other allegations in the complaint 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 and falsely claimed that Sun's know-your-customer documentation was inadequate, threatening to report him to U.S. 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 public post, Sun stated that he had attempted to resolve the situation in good faith and sought equal treatment as other early investors. He also expressed opposition to World Liberty's new governance proposal, published on April 15.
Since Trump took office, Sun has visited the U.S. and was a guest at a Trump-linked crypto project dinner last year.
Recently, Sun settled charges with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, agreeing to pay a $10 million fine to resolve a case from the previous presidential administration.