Tron founder Justin Sun has taken legal action against World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency firm with ties to the Trump family, alleging that the company froze his $WLFI token holdings without justification and made false representations. The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, asserts that World Liberty's actions were part of an unlawful scheme to seize Sun's property. According to the suit, Sun invested $45 million in $WLFI tokens in 2024 after being approached by the World Liberty team, partly due to the project's association with the Trump family. However, when Sun declined to continue investing in 2025, World Liberty's attitude towards him became hostile.
The company allegedly made fraudulent statements about the rights of token holders and the governance of the $WLFI tokens. Sun's lawsuit also claims that World Liberty has centralized control over its tokens, despite presenting itself as a decentralized finance project. The company is accused of modifying the smart contract governing $WLFI in August 2025 to add a 'blacklisting' function, which allowed it to freeze tokens in specific wallets without disclosing this change to investors.
By freezing Sun's tokens, World Liberty allegedly aimed to pressure him into minting $200 million of its USD1 stablecoin on the Tron blockchain and to manipulate the market price of $WLFI tokens. The lawsuit raises questions about World Liberty's regulatory status, suggesting that its ability to issue, freeze, and reassign tokens may subject it 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 tried to resolve the situation amicably and seeks to be treated equally to other early investors who received tokens.