Tron founder Justin Sun has initiated a lawsuit against World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency firm with ties to the family of former U.S. President Donald Trump, citing unfair treatment and frozen assets. The lawsuit claims that World Liberty's leadership engaged in an illegal scheme to seize Sun's $WLFI tokens, which he had purchased after being solicited by the company in 2024.
Sun had invested $45 million in the tokens, reportedly due to the project's potential to promote decentralized finance and its association with the Trump family. However, when Sun declined to continue investing in 2025, including a request to mint the company's USD1 stablecoin, World Liberty's principals allegedly became hostile towards him.
The lawsuit alleges that World Liberty made fraudulent misrepresentations about the rights and liberties associated with purchasing $WLFI tokens, including statements about token holder governance and the freedom to transact. It is also claimed that the company centralized control over its tokens, contrary to its decentralized finance claims. In August 2025, World Liberty modified the smart contract governing $WLFI to add a 'blacklisting' function, allowing the company to freeze tokens in specific wallets without disclosing this change to investors. This modification was allegedly used to freeze Sun's tokens, serving the dual purpose of pressuring him to mint $200 million of the USD1 stablecoin and manipulating the market price of $WLFI tokens.
The complaint argues that World Liberty's actions may have regulatory implications, potentially qualifying the firm as a money transmitter subject to registration and anti-money laundering requirements. Additionally, the lawsuit includes allegations of 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.
Sun has stated that he attempted to resolve the situation in good faith and seeks equal treatment as other early investors who received tokens.