Justin Sun, the creator of Tron, has initiated a lawsuit against World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency firm with ties to the family of former U.S. President Donald Trump. The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, claims that World Liberty Financial unjustly locked up Sun's $WLFI token holdings, engaged in fraudulent activities, and issued threats and defamation against him. According to the lawsuit, Sun had invested $45 million in $WLFI tokens after being solicited by World Liberty's team in 2024, partly due to the project's association with the Trump family and its purported goal of promoting decentralized finance adoption.
A spokesperson for World Liberty Financial declined to comment on the lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that World Liberty asked Sun to continue investing in 2025, including a request to mint the company's USD1 stablecoin. However, when it became apparent that Sun would not invest on their terms by July 2025, World Liberty's principals allegedly became hostile towards him.
The lawsuit claims that World Liberty induced Sun to invest through fraudulent misrepresentations about the economic rights and liberties associated with purchasing $WLFI tokens. These alleged misrepresentations include statements about token holders' rights, public statements by World Liberty or its executives about governance rights, and claims about the 'freedom to transact.' Sun's lawsuit also alleges that World Liberty, despite presenting itself as a decentralized finance operator, maintained centralized control over its tokens. The complaint states 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 disclosing this change to investors or putting it to a governance vote. The lawsuit claims that World Liberty's freezing of Sun's tokens served two purposes: pressuring him to mint $200 million of the company's USD1 stablecoin on the Tron blockchain and manipulating the market price of $WLFI by preventing one of the largest holders from selling.
By locking up Sun's position, the complaint argues that World Liberty artificially supported the market price of $WLFI tokens held by the company's founders and treasury. The lawsuit raises regulatory questions, suggesting that World Liberty's ability to issue, freeze, and reassign tokens may qualify it as a money transmitter under U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network rules, subjecting it to registration and anti-money laundering requirements.
Other allegations include threats made by World Liberty's co-founder, Chase Herro, to burn Sun's $WLFI tokens and falsely claim that Sun's know-your-customer documentation was inadequate, threatening to report him to U.S. authorities.
Portions of the lawsuit were redacted, with Sun's team giving World Liberty the opportunity to decide whether these provisions should remain sealed. In a social media 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. Since Trump's presidency, Sun has visited the U.S. and was a guest at a Trump-linked crypto project dinner last year.
Recently, Sun settled charges with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, agreeing to pay a $10 million fine to resolve a case from the previous administration.