Tron founder Justin Sun has initiated a lawsuit against World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency firm with ties to the family of former US President Donald Trump, alleging that the company improperly froze his $WLFI token holdings and made deceitful representations. The lawsuit, which was filed on Tuesday, asserts that World Liberty's leadership engaged in an unlawful scheme to seize Sun's tokens, which he claims to have purchased after being approached by the company's team in 2024. According to the lawsuit, Sun invested $45 million in $WLFI tokens due to the project's purported commitment to promoting decentralized finance, a cause close to his heart, as well as its association with the Trump family.
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 or mint USD1 on their terms, 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 holder rights, public statements by World Liberty or its executives regarding governance rights, and statements about the 'freedom to transact.' Sun's lawsuit also alleges that World Liberty, despite presenting itself as a decentralized finance business, exerted centralized control over its tokens. According to the complaint, 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. This modification was not put to a governance vote or disclosed to investors, Sun claims.
The complaint alleges that World Liberty'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 artificially propped up the market price of $WLFI tokens held by World Liberty founders and the company's corporate treasury.
The lawsuit raises regulatory questions, as World Liberty's ability to issue, freeze, and reassign tokens may qualify the firm as a money transmitter under US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network rules, subjecting it to registration and anti-money laundering requirements. Other allegations in the complaint include that World Liberty made overt threats to Sun and his businesses.
Chase Herro, one of World Liberty's co-founders, allegedly threatened to burn Sun's $WLFI tokens if Sun did not request that his tokens be burned. Herro also allegedly falsely claimed that the know-your-customer documentation submitted by Sun and his companies in connection with their $WLFI token purchases was inadequate, threatening to report Sun to US authorities. Portions of the lawsuit were redacted, with another filing attached to the lawsuit citing a confidentiality provision.
Sun stated on social media that he had attempted to resolve the situation in good faith and sought to be treated equally to other early investors who received tokens. He also expressed opposition to World Liberty's new governance proposal published on April 15. Since Trump took office, Sun has visited the US after previously avoiding the country, including attending a memecoin dinner linked to a different Trump-connected crypto project.
Sun recently settled charges with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, agreeing to pay a $10 million fine to resolve a case brought by the previous presidential administration.