Tron's founder, Justin Sun, has taken legal action against World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency firm with ties to the Trump family, accusing the company of unfairly freezing his $WLFI token holdings and making fraudulent claims. The lawsuit, which was filed on Tuesday, asserts that World Liberty's leadership engaged in an 'illegal scheme to seize property' in the form of Sun's tokens, which he claims to have purchased after being solicited by the company in 2024. According to the suit, Sun invested $45 million in $WLFI tokens due to the project's promise to promote decentralized finance, an issue Sun is deeply passionate about, as well as the involvement of the Trump family.
A spokesperson for World Liberty Financial has declined to comment on the lawsuit. The filing states that World Liberty asked Sun to continue investing in 2025, including a request to mint the company's USD1 stablecoin.
However, when it became clear that Sun would not invest or mint USD1 on their terms, World Liberty's principals allegedly became hostile towards him. The lawsuit claims that World Liberty made fraudulent misrepresentations about the economic rights and liberties associated with purchasing $WLFI tokens, including statements about token holder rights, governance rights, and the 'freedom to transact.' Sun's suit also alleges that World Liberty, despite presenting itself as a decentralized finance business, has 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.
The lawsuit claims that World Liberty's freezing of Sun's tokens served a dual purpose: to pressure him into minting $200 million of the company's 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 locking up Sun's position, the complaint argues, World Liberty artificially inflated the market price of $WLFI tokens held by the company's founders and corporate treasury. The filing also raises regulatory concerns, suggesting that World Liberty's ability to issue, freeze, and reassign tokens may qualify the firm 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 if Sun did not request that his tokens be burned, and also claimed that the know-your-customer documentation submitted by Sun was inadequate, threatening to report him to U.S.
authorities. Portions of the lawsuit have been redacted, with Sun's team giving World Liberty the opportunity to decide whether these provisions should remain sealed. In a post, Sun stated that he had attempted to resolve the situation in good faith and wants to be treated the same as other early investors who received tokens.
He also expressed his opposition to World Liberty's new governance proposal, published on April 15. Since Trump took office, Sun has visited the U.S.
after previously avoiding the country, and was a guest at Trump's first memecoin dinner last year. Sun recently settled charges with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, agreeing to pay a $10 million fine to resolve a case brought by the previous presidential administration.