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 wrongfully froze his $WLFI token holdings and made fraudulent claims. The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, states that World Liberty's leadership engaged in an illegal scheme to seize Sun's tokens, which he purchased after being approached by the company in 2024. Sun invested $45 million in $WLFI tokens, partly due to the project's connection to the Trump family and its claims of promoting decentralized finance. However, when Sun declined to continue investing in 2025, World Liberty's attitude towards him became hostile.
The lawsuit alleges that World Liberty made false statements about the rights of token holders and the governance of $WLFI, and that the company has centralized control over its tokens despite presenting itself as a decentralized finance business. World Liberty modified the smart contract governing $WLFI in August 2025 to add a 'blacklisting' function, allowing the company to freeze tokens without disclosing this change to investors.
The complaint claims that World Liberty froze Sun's tokens to pressure him into minting $200 million of the company's USD1 stablecoin and to manipulate the market price of $WLFI. The lawsuit also alleges that World Liberty's actions may have regulatory implications, as the company's ability to issue, freeze, and reassign tokens could qualify it as a money transmitter under US law.
Additionally, the complaint states that World Liberty made threats against Sun and his businesses, including a claim that the know-your-customer documentation submitted by Sun was inadequate. Sun has stated that he tried to resolve the situation amicably but was forced to take legal action. He also expressed opposition to a new governance proposal published by World Liberty on April 15.