Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, has taken legal action against World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency firm backed by the Trump family, alleging that the company froze his $WLFI token holdings without justification, made false statements, and threatened him. The lawsuit claims that World Liberty's actions were part of an 'illegal scheme to seize property' and that the company's leadership engaged in fraudulent behavior.
Sun invested $45 million in $WLFI tokens in 2024, allegedly due to the project's claims about promoting decentralized finance and its connection to the Trump family. However, when Sun refused to continue investing in 2025, World Liberty's principals became hostile towards him. The lawsuit also alleges that World Liberty made false statements about the rights of token holders and the governance of the $WLFI tokens.
Furthermore, it is claimed that the company modified the smart contract governing $WLFI in August 2025 to add a 'blacklisting' function, allowing it to freeze tokens in specific wallets without disclosing this change 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. The lawsuit raises questions about World Liberty's claims of decentralization and its potential status as a money transmitter under US regulations.
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 but was left with no choice but to take legal action, seeking to be treated equally to other early investors who received tokens.