Tron founder Justin Sun has initiated a lawsuit against World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency firm with ties to the family of former U.S. President Donald Trump, alleging that the company froze his $WLFI token holdings without justification, made false representations, and defamed him. The lawsuit claims that World Liberty's leadership engaged in an illegal scheme to seize Sun's assets, specifically his $WLFI tokens, which he purchased in 2024 after being solicited by the company. Sun invested $45 million in $WLFI tokens, reportedly due to the project's potential to promote decentralized finance and its connection to 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 allegedly became hostile. The lawsuit accuses World Liberty of inducing Sun to invest through fraudulent misrepresentations about the rights and freedoms associated with purchasing $WLFI tokens.
It also claims that the company has centralized control over its tokens, contrary to its decentralized finance claims. In August 2025, World Liberty allegedly modified the smart contract governing $WLFI to add a 'blacklisting' function, allowing the company to freeze tokens in specific wallets without disclosing this change to investors.
Sun's lawsuit argues that this modification was used to pressure him into minting $200 million of the USD1 stablecoin on the Tron blockchain and to manipulate the market price of $WLFI tokens. The complaint further alleges that World Liberty's actions may have regulatory implications, potentially qualifying the firm as a money transmitter subject 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 attempted to resolve the situation amicably and seeks equal treatment as other early investors who received tokens.