Tron Developer Sues Cryptocurrency Firm Over Allegations
Justin Sun, the developer behind Tron, has filed a lawsuit against World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency and stablecoin company affiliated with the Trump family. The lawsuit, lodged on Tuesday, claims that the firm improperly locked up his $WLFI holdings, engaged in fraudulent misrepresentations, and even included threats and defamation against him.
The lawsuit highlights Sun’s backing for Trump, alleging that the leadership at World Liberty devised an “illicit scheme” to take control of his tokens. It also mentions that Sun was encouraged by the company to invest in their tokens in 2024.
According to the complaint, “At a pivotal time for World Liberty, Mr. Sun invested $45 million to purchase $WLFI tokens from World Liberty not only because of the project’s claims to accelerate the adoption of decentralized finance, but also due to the Trump family’s association with the project.”
A spokesperson for World Liberty Financial declined to comment on the lawsuit.
The court documents suggest that World Liberty requested Sun to keep investing through 2025, even urging him to mint the company’s $1 stablecoin. Tensions reportedly increased by July 2025 when it became evident that Sun would not be investing or minting under their terms.
The filing alleges that World Liberty misled investors about the economic rights associated with the purchase of $WLFI tokens. These misrepresentations included claims regarding token holders’ rights and governance.
Sun’s lawsuit further asserts that despite branding itself as decentralized, World Liberty exercised central control over its tokens. The complaint points out that World Liberty modified the smart contract governing $WLFI in August 2025, introducing a “blacklist” feature that allowed the firm to freeze tokens in specific wallets. Sun contends that this change was made without transparent governance or disclosure to investors.
“Although the upgrade is technically visible on the public blockchain, World Liberty embedded it into the code without warning token holders of its existence or impact,” the filing states. It goes on to describe the new feature as one that could be used covertly.
Additionally, the lawsuit claims that the freezing of Sun’s tokens served a dual purpose: pressuring him to mint $200 million worth of its USD 1 stablecoin and manipulating the market price of $WLFI by preventing a key holder from selling.
This manipulation allegedly resulted in an artificial inflation of the market price of $WLFI for the benefit of the company’s founders and treasury, further calling into question World Liberty’s decentralization claims and raising regulatory concerns.
Other accusations in the complaint state that “World Liberty made two explicit threats” against Sun. One co-founder, Chase Herro, reportedly threatened to burn Sun’s $WLFI tokens unless he requested that they be burned himself. Herro also allegedly claimed that the KYC documentation Sun provided was inadequate and threatened to notify U.S. authorities.
Some sections of the lawsuit are redacted, citing confidentiality clauses while allowing World Liberty the chance to decide whether these parts should remain sealed. Sun, through a post, mentioned that they had made good faith efforts to resolve the situation, stating, “All I want is to be treated the same as any other early investor who received their tokens, no better or worse.” He also expressed his opposition to a new governance proposal from World Liberty that was announced on April 15th.
Despite being away from the U.S. for a while, Sun has been active since Trump’s administration, including attending a dinner last year linked to another Trump-associated cryptocurrency project. Recently, he settled a separate lawsuit with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, agreeing to pay a $10 million fine.
