Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, has initiated a lawsuit against World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency firm backed by associates of former U.S. President Donald Trump.
The lawsuit claims that World Liberty Financial froze Sun's $WLFI tokens without justification, engaged in fraudulent activities, and made defamatory statements against him. According to the lawsuit, Sun invested $45 million in $WLFI tokens in 2024, partly due to the project's association with the Trump family and its claimed support for decentralized finance.
However, when Sun refused to continue investing in 2025, World Liberty's leadership allegedly became hostile towards him. The lawsuit accuses World Liberty of making false statements about the rights of token holders, including their ability to transact freely. It also claims that the company has centralized control over its tokens, despite presenting itself as a decentralized finance business. The lawsuit further alleges that World Liberty modified the smart contract governing $WLFI tokens in August 2025 to add a 'blacklisting' function, allowing the company to freeze tokens in specific wallets without disclosing this change to investors.
This modification was allegedly used to freeze Sun's tokens, pressuring him to mint $200 million of World Liberty's USD1 stablecoin and manipulating the market price of $WLFI tokens. The complaint argues that World Liberty's actions may have regulatory implications, potentially qualifying the firm as a money transmitter under U.S. rules. Other allegations 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 to report him to U.S. authorities, claiming that Sun's know-your-customer documentation was inadequate. A spokesperson for World Liberty Financial declined to comment on the lawsuit.
In a recent post, Sun stated that he had attempted to resolve the situation amicably and sought equal treatment as other early investors. He also expressed opposition to a new governance proposal published by World Liberty on April 15.