Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, has initiated a lawsuit against World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency firm with ties to the family of former U.S. President Donald Trump. The lawsuit alleges that World Liberty Financial unfairly froze Sun's $WLFI token holdings, made false representations, and threatened and defamed him. According to the lawsuit, Sun invested $45 million in $WLFI tokens after being solicited by World Liberty's team in 2024, partly due to the project's association with the Trump family and its claims of promoting decentralized finance.
However, when Sun declined to continue investing in 2025, World Liberty's principals allegedly became hostile towards him. The lawsuit claims that World Liberty induced Sun to invest through fraudulent misrepresentations about the economic rights and liberties associated with purchasing $WLFI tokens.
It is also alleged that World Liberty changed the smart contract governing $WLFI in August 2025 to add a 'blacklisting' function, allowing the company to freeze tokens without disclosing this to investors. The complaint argues that this modification was used to pressure Sun into minting $200 million of World Liberty's USD1 stablecoin and to manipulate the market price of $WLFI tokens. Furthermore, the lawsuit alleges that World Liberty made overt threats to Sun and his businesses, including a threat to burn his $WLFI tokens and a claim that his know-your-customer documentation was inadequate. The lawsuit raises questions about World Liberty's decentralization claims and its potential qualification as a money transmitter under U.S.
regulations, subjecting it to registration and anti-money laundering requirements. Sun has stated that he tried to resolve the situation in good faith and seeks to be treated the same as other early investors who received tokens.