Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, has launched a lawsuit against World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency firm with ties to the family of former US President Donald Trump. The lawsuit alleges that World Liberty Financial unfairly froze Sun's $WLFI tokens, made false representations, and threatened him. According to the lawsuit, Sun had invested $45 million in $WLFI tokens after being solicited by the World Liberty team in 2024, partly due to the project's association with the Trump family. However, when Sun refused to continue investing in 2025, World Liberty's principals became hostile towards him.
The lawsuit claims that World Liberty induced Sun to invest through fraudulent misrepresentations about the rights and liberties associated with purchasing $WLFI tokens. It also alleges that the company has centralized control over its tokens, contrary to its claims of operating in the decentralized finance sector.
The lawsuit further claims that World Liberty changed the smart contract governing $WLFI in August 2025 to add a 'blacklisting' function, which allowed the company to freeze tokens in specific wallets without disclosing this to investors. This modification was allegedly used to freeze Sun's tokens, pressuring him to mint $200 million of the company's USD1 stablecoin and manipulating the market price of $WLFI tokens.
The complaint also raises regulatory questions, arguing that World Liberty's ability to issue, freeze, and reassign tokens may qualify it as a money transmitter under US 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 report him to US authorities. Sun has stated that he tried to resolve the situation in good faith and wants to be treated the same as other early investors who received tokens.