Tron founder Justin Sun has filed a lawsuit against World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency and stablecoin firm backed by members of former U.S. President Donald Trump's family. The suit, filed in a California federal court on Tuesday, alleges the project unfairly locked up Sun's $WLFI tokens, engaged in fraudulent misrepresentations, and made threats against him.
The legal complaint details that Sun invested $45 million in 2024 to purchase $WLFI tokens after being solicited by the World Liberty team. He was motivated by the project's claims of promoting decentralized finance adoption and its association with the Trump family. According to the filing, World Liberty later asked Sun to continue investing through 2025, including a request to mint its USD1 stablecoin. When it became clear by July 2025 that Sun would not invest further on their terms, the company's principals allegedly became hostile.
The lawsuit centers on several key allegations. It claims World Liberty made fraudulent statements about the economic rights and "freedom to transact" afforded to $WLFI token holders. Furthermore, it accuses the project of centralized control, contradicting its DeFi branding. A critical claim is that in August 2025, World Liberty modified the $WLFI smart contract to add a "blacklisting" function, allowing it to freeze tokens in specific wallets. This change was allegedly made without a governance vote or disclosure to investors, even as token holders had just approved a proposal to make a portion of the supply tradable.
The complaint also outlines overt threats. It alleges that World Liberty co-founder Chase Herro threatened to burn Sun's tokens if Sun did not request their burning himself. Herro also allegedly threatened to report Sun to U.S. authorities over false claims of inadequate KYC documentation. In a post on X, Sun stated he had "tried in good faith to resolve this situation" and only wants "to be treated the same as every other early investor." He also expressed opposition to a new governance proposal published by World Liberty on April 15.
A spokesperson for World Liberty Financial declined to comment on the lawsuit. This legal action follows Sun's recent settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, where he agreed to pay a $10 million fine to resolve a case from the previous administration.
