Tron's founder, Justin Sun, has initiated a lawsuit against World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency firm with ties to the Trump family, claiming that the company froze his $WLFI token holdings without justification, made false representations, and issued threats against him. The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, asserts that World Liberty's actions constitute 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 lawsuit, Sun invested $45 million in $WLFI tokens due to the project's purported commitment to decentralized finance and its association with the Trump family. A spokesperson for World Liberty Financial declined to comment on the lawsuit. The filing states that World Liberty requested Sun to continue investing in 2025, including a proposal to mint the company's USD1 stablecoin.
However, when Sun refused to invest on their terms by July 2025, the company's principals allegedly became hostile towards him. The lawsuit claims that World Liberty made 'fraudulent misrepresentations and omissions' about the economic rights and liberties associated with purchasing $WLFI tokens, including statements about token holder rights and the 'freedom to transact.' Sun's suit also alleges that World Liberty, despite presenting itself as a decentralized finance business, exercises 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 or putting it to a governance vote. The lawsuit argues that this modification enabled World Liberty to freeze Sun's tokens, serving a dual purpose: pressuring him to mint $200 million of the company's USD1 stablecoin on the Tron blockchain and manipulating $WLFI's market price by preventing one of the largest holders from selling.
By locking up Sun's position, the complaint claims that World Liberty artificially propped up the market price of $WLFI tokens held by the company's founders and treasury. The filing raises regulatory concerns, suggesting that World Liberty's ability to issue, freeze, and reassign tokens may qualify it 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 he did not request that they be burned and falsely claimed that Sun's know-your-customer documentation was inadequate, threatening to report him to U.S. authorities.
Portions of the lawsuit have been redacted, with a separate filing citing a confidentiality provision and offering the World Liberty team the opportunity to decide whether these provisions should remain sealed. In a social media post, Sun stated that he had attempted to resolve the situation in good faith and sought equal treatment as other early investors who received tokens.
He also expressed opposition to World Liberty's new governance proposal published on April 15. Since Trump took office, Sun has visited the U.S.
and was a guest at a Trump-linked crypto project dinner last year. Recently, Sun 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 administration.