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 froze his $WLFI token holdings without justification, made false representations, and engaged in threatening behavior. The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday, asserts that World Liberty's actions constitute an 'illegal scheme to seize property' and that the company's leadership made fraudulent claims about the rights and benefits associated with purchasing $WLFI tokens. Sun claims to have invested $45 million in $WLFI tokens after being approached by World Liberty's team in 2024, partly due to the project's supposed commitment to decentralized finance and its connection to the Trump family. However, when Sun declined to continue investing in 2025, including a request to mint World Liberty's USD1 stablecoin, the company's principals allegedly became hostile towards him.
The lawsuit alleges that World Liberty manipulated the $WLFI market by freezing Sun's tokens, which prevented him from selling and artificially inflated the token's price, benefiting the company's founders and treasury. Furthermore, the complaint argues that World Liberty's control over its tokens, including the ability to freeze and reassign them, undermines its claims of decentralization and may subject it to regulatory scrutiny as a potential money transmitter. Other allegations include threats made by World Liberty's co-founder, Chase Herro, against Sun and his businesses, as well as claims of inadequate know-your-customer documentation. Sun has stated that he attempted to resolve the situation amicably and seeks equal treatment as other early investors who received tokens.