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 improperly froze his $WLFI token holdings and engaged in fraudulent behavior. According to the lawsuit, World Liberty's leadership solicited Sun to invest $45 million in $WLFI tokens in 2024, touting the project's potential to promote 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 made false representations about the rights and freedoms associated with purchasing $WLFI tokens, including statements about token holder governance and the ability to transact freely. It is also alleged 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 disclosure or a governance vote. The complaint argues that this modification enabled World Liberty to freeze Sun's tokens, thereby pressuring him to mint $200 million of the company's USD1 stablecoin and artificially inflating the market price of $WLFI tokens held by World Liberty's founders and treasury. The lawsuit raises questions about World Liberty's claims of decentralization and potentially subjects the firm to regulatory scrutiny as a money transmitter.
Other allegations include threats made by World Liberty's co-founder, Chase Herro, against Sun and his businesses. Sun has stated that he attempted to resolve the situation amicably and seeks equal treatment as an early investor. He also expressed opposition to World Liberty's new governance proposal, published on April 15.