Justin Sun, the creator of the Tron blockchain, 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 engaged in an illegal scheme to seize Sun's $WLFI tokens, which he had purchased after being solicited by the company in 2024. Sun alleges that he invested $45 million in $WLFI tokens due to the project's claims of promoting decentralized finance, an issue he deeply cares about, as well as the Trump family's association with the project.
A spokesperson for World Liberty Financial stated that the company has no comment on the lawsuit. According to the filing, World Liberty Financial asked Sun to continue investing in 2025, including a request to mint the company's USD1 stablecoin. However, when it became clear that Sun would not invest or mint USD1 on their terms, World Liberty's principals became hostile towards him.
The lawsuit alleges that World Liberty Financial made fraudulent misrepresentations and omissions about the economic rights and liberties associated with purchasing $WLFI tokens. These misrepresentations include statements about token holder rights, public statements by World Liberty or its executives about governance rights, and statements about the freedom to transact. Sun's suit also claims that World Liberty Financial, despite presenting itself as a decentralized finance business, has centralized control over its tokens.
The complaint states that World Liberty Financial changed the smart contract governing $WLFI in August 2025 to add a 'blacklisting' function, allowing the company to freeze tokens in specific wallets. This modification was not put to a governance vote or disclosed to investors, according to Sun.
The lawsuit alleges that World Liberty Financial's freezing of Sun's tokens served a dual purpose: pressuring him to mint $200 million of the company's USD1 stablecoin on his Tron blockchain and manipulating $WLFI's market price by preventing one of the largest holders from selling. By locking up Sun's position, the complaint argues, World Liberty Financial artificially propped up the market price of $WLFI tokens held by the company's founders and corporate treasury. The lawsuit also raises regulatory questions, as World Liberty Financial's ability to issue, freeze, and reassign tokens may qualify the firm as a money transmitter under U.S.
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network rules, subjecting it to registration and anti-money laundering requirements. Other allegations in the complaint include that World Liberty Financial made overt threats to Sun and his businesses, including a threat to burn Sun's $WLFI tokens if he did not ask for them to be burned. Sun has stated that he has tried in good faith to resolve the situation and wants to be treated the same as every other early investor who received tokens.