Tron founder Justin Sun has taken legal action against World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency firm with ties to the family of former US President Donald Trump, accusing the company of wrongly freezing his $WLFI token holdings and making false claims. The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, claims that World Liberty's leadership engaged in an 'illegal scheme to seize property' in the form of Sun's tokens, which he purchased after being approached by the company in 2024. Sun invested $45 million in $WLFI tokens, reportedly due to the project's potential to promote decentralized finance and its association with the Trump family. However, when Sun declined to continue investing in 2025, including a request to mint the company's USD1 stablecoin, World Liberty's attitude towards him allegedly became hostile.
The lawsuit alleges that World Liberty made false claims about the rights of token holders, including statements about governance and the 'freedom to transact.' It is also claimed that the company has centralized control over its tokens, contrary to its decentralized finance claims. In August 2025, World Liberty modified the smart contract governing $WLFI to add a 'blacklisting' function, allowing the company to freeze tokens in specific wallets without disclosing this to investors. The complaint argues that this change was used to pressure Sun into minting $200 million of the USD1 stablecoin and to manipulate the market price of $WLFI tokens.
The lawsuit raises regulatory concerns, suggesting that World Liberty's ability to issue, freeze, and reassign tokens may qualify it as a money transmitter, subject to registration and anti-money laundering requirements. Other allegations include threats made by World Liberty's co-founder, Chase Herro, against Sun and his businesses.
Sun has stated that he tried to resolve the situation amicably and seeks equal treatment as other early investors who received tokens.