Justin Sun sued World Liberty Financial, alleging the Trump family-backed crypto venture unlawfully froze WLFI tokens worth up to $1 billion.
Crypto billionaire Justin Sun has sued World Liberty Financial, alleging the Trump family’s crypto venture illegally froze his digital tokens and prevented him from accessing assets he says were worth as much as $1 billion.
The complaint, filed Tuesday in federal court in California, marks a sharp rupture between World Liberty and one of its most prominent backers. The allegations have not been proven in court, and World Liberty has denied wrongdoing, accusing Sun of trying to shift attention away from his own conduct.
Sun, founder of the blockchain project TRON, says he bought $45 million worth of World Liberty’s WLFI tokens and helped build confidence in the venture. His lawsuit alleges the company later blocked him from selling any of those tokens after they became tradable, stripped him of governance voting rights and threatened to permanently destroy the holdings by “burning” them.
World Liberty Financial was co-founded by President Donald Trump and his sons, according to the complaint and reports on the filing. Sun has publicly described himself as a supporter of Trump and his cryptocurrency agenda, but he blamed “certain individuals” connected to World Liberty for the alleged actions at the center of the lawsuit.
The complaint accuses World Liberty executives of using the Trump brand to drive profits and claims the company sought to pressure Sun into putting “hundreds of millions of dollars” into USD1, World Liberty’s stablecoin. Sun alleges the company froze his tokens after he declined to commit additional money.
Sun also claims World Liberty quietly changed the rules governing token transfers, giving itself what the complaint described as “blacklisting power” over holders without a governance proposal, token-holder vote or public notice to investors. The lawsuit asks the court to stop World Liberty from invalidating Sun’s tokens.
World Liberty has rejected the claims. Zach Witkoff, the company’s co-founder and CEO, called the lawsuit “entirely meritless” in a social media post and said Sun had engaged in “misconduct that required World Liberty to take action to protect itself and its users.”
Eric Trump, also a co-founder, mocked the filing in a separate post, writing: “The only thing more ridiculous than this lawsuit is spending $6 million on a banana duct-taped to a wall.” The comment referred to Sun’s 2024 purchase of Maurizio Cattelan’s artwork “Comedian,” a banana taped to a wall.
The lawsuit also raises broader financial concerns about World Liberty. Sun’s complaint alleges the company borrowed at least $75 million in stablecoins by pledging billions of WLFI tokens as collateral and converted some of those funds into cash. The filing claims that activity could add pressure to WLFI’s price and make it harder for holders to trade, though those assertions remain part of Sun’s legal claims.
Sun’s relationship with Trump-linked crypto ventures has drawn attention before. The BBC reported that Sun bought $100 million of Trump meme coins in July 2025, and CBS reported that he had described himself as the largest holder of another Trump-backed crypto token, $TRUMP.
The immediate question is whether the court will restrict World Liberty’s control over Sun’s tokens while the case proceeds. The broader dispute now turns on whether World Liberty can justify its freeze as a protective step or whether Sun can show it was part of a fraudulent scheme to pressure him for more investment.
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