Tron founder Justin Sun has taken legal action against World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency firm with ties to the family of former US President Donald Trump, alleging that the company froze his $WLFI token holdings without justification, made false representations, and defamed him. The lawsuit, which was filed on Tuesday, asserts that World Liberty's leadership engaged in an illegal scheme to seize Sun's tokens, which he purchased after being approached by the company in 2024. According to the suit, Sun invested $45 million in $WLFI tokens due to the project's claimed support for decentralized finance and its association with the Trump family. However, when Sun declined to invest further or issue World Liberty's USD1 stablecoin in 2025, the company's principals allegedly became hostile towards him.
The lawsuit claims that World Liberty made fraudulent misrepresentations about the rights of token holders, including statements about governance and transactional freedom. Additionally, the company is accused of having centralized control over its tokens, despite presenting itself as a decentralized finance business.
The complaint alleges that World Liberty modified the smart contract governing $WLFI in August 2025 to add a 'blacklisting' function, allowing the company to freeze tokens without disclosing this change to investors. This modification was allegedly used to freeze Sun's tokens, which served to pressure him into minting $200 million of the company's USD1 stablecoin and to artificially inflate the market price of $WLFI tokens held by World Liberty's founders and treasury. The lawsuit also raises regulatory concerns, suggesting that World Liberty's ability to issue, freeze, and reassign tokens may qualify it as a money transmitter under US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network rules.
Other allegations include threats made by World Liberty's co-founder, Chase Herro, to burn Sun's $WLFI tokens and to report him to US authorities for allegedly inadequate know-your-customer documentation. Sun has stated that he attempted to resolve the situation amicably and seeks to be treated equally to other early investors who received tokens.
He also expressed opposition to a new governance proposal published by World Liberty on April 15.