Tron's founder, Justin Sun, has initiated a lawsuit against World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency firm with ties to the Trump family, alleging that the company froze his $WLFI token holdings, made false representations, and issued threats. The lawsuit, which was filed on Tuesday, claims that World Liberty's leadership engaged in an 'illegal scheme to seize property' in the form of Sun's tokens, which he had purchased after being solicited by the company in 2024.
Sun invested $45 million in $WLFI tokens, reportedly due to the project's claims of promoting decentralized finance and its association with the Trump family. World Liberty Financial requested that Sun continue investing in 2025, including minting the company's USD1 stablecoin.
However, when Sun declined to invest on their terms, the company'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 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.
According to the complaint, 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 argues that World Liberty's actions served a dual purpose: pressuring Sun to mint $200 million of the company's USD1 stablecoin and manipulating the market price of $WLFI tokens. By locking up Sun's position, the complaint claims that World Liberty artificially inflated the market price of $WLFI tokens held by the company's founders and treasury.
The filing also raises regulatory concerns, suggesting that World Liberty's ability to issue, freeze, and reassign tokens may qualify it as a money transmitter, 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 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 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 sought equal treatment as other early investors. He also expressed opposition to World Liberty's new governance proposal, published on April 15.
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 presidential administration.