Tron founder Justin Sun has launched a scathing public attack against World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a cryptocurrency project linked to Donald Trump, labeling its governance proposal as "one of the most absurd governance scams" he has ever witnessed. In detailed posts on X, Sun criticized a proposal that would impact over 62 billion WLFI tokens, calling its mechanisms coercive and fundamentally opposed to decentralized principles.
The controversial proposal, described by WLFI as a "governance alignment signal," outlines a new vesting structure. For advisors, institutions, partners, founders, and team members holding 45.23 billion tokens, it proposes a two-year cliff followed by a three-year linear vesting schedule, coupled with a 10% token burn that could destroy up to 4.52 billion tokens. Early supporters holding 17.04 billion tokens would face a two-year cliff and a two-year linear vest, with no burn. Crucially, holders who vote against the proposal or do not accept the new terms would see their tokens locked indefinitely under existing conditions, with no defined unlock mechanism.
Sun, who invested $75 million in WLFI and is its largest backer, claims he has been personally excluded from the voting process. He states that despite controlling approximately 4% of the voting power, his tokens have been frozen, preventing his participation. He alleges that multiple other holders with significant voting rights are similarly blocked, while the project team retains the authority to decide who can vote. "This is not a governance vote. This is a performance where the police have already barricaded the doors of parliament and only let their own people inside to raise their hands," Sun wrote. "The voter pool has been purged. Only yes votes remain."
Beyond the vote, Sun raised severe concerns about WLFI's underlying control structure. He asserted that authority over the project's smart contracts resides with a 3-of-5 anonymous multisignature group and a single anonymous guardian account capable of blacklisting addresses. These unidentified actors, Sun argued, can override governance outcomes and execute changes directly at the contract level. "The so-called governance proposals, on-chain votes, and community discussions are all just theater. This isn't decentralized governance; it's dictatorship dressed in DAO clothing," he added.
This public feud escalates earlier accusations Sun made against WLFI. Earlier in the week, he flagged issues regarding hidden control mechanisms, supported by on-chain analysis from blockchain researcher banteg. The analysis indicated that WLFI's token contracts were updated after Sun's investment to include a blacklist function and a "batch reallocation" mechanism, which WLFI stated was meant to recover funds lost to scams. Sun claims he was not informed about these controls, which allow certain addresses to restrict or reallocate tokens.
The proposal is set for a vote one week after its posting. WLFI has stated its goals are to boost long-term governance participation and reduce circulating supply through token burns and extended lockups. However, the backlash from its largest investor highlights a significant conflict over transparency, decentralization, and investor rights in the project.
