Tron founder Justin Sun filed a lawsuit in California federal court against World Liberty Financial (WLFI).
The complaint alleges that the decentralized finance (DeFi) project fraudulently induced him to invest, froze his tokens, and threatened to destroy them permanently.
Justin Sun’s History With World Liberty Financial
According to BeInCrypto’s earlier reporting, Sun first invested $30 million in World Liberty Financial in late 2024, ahead of the token’s market launch. He subsequently built up a WLFI position valued at around $75 million and was named as an advisor to the project.
In September, Sun confirmed that World Liberty Financial had blacklisted his wallet. The wallet held 540 million unlocked WLFI tokens and 2.4 billion locked tokens. The freeze followed on-chain activity showing outgoing transfers, including one valued at $9 million.
Since then, the value of Sun’s locked stash has dropped by an estimated $60 million amid a sharp slide in the WLFI price. For its part, WLFI has maintained that the freeze was a routine security measure rather than a move specifically aimed at Sun.
Earlier this month, Sun alleged that the Trump-backed venture embedded a “backdoor blacklisting function” that would supposedly allow it to freeze, restrict, and confiscate “property rights of any token holder.” In response to his public accusations, World Liberty Financial challenged the investor to a legal fight.
Follow us on X to get the latest news as it happens
Tron Founder Sues World Liberty Financial
In his latest post, Sun said he had made good-faith attempts to work things out with the World Liberty team without heading to court.
However, he claimed the team rebuffed his requests to unfreeze the tokens and reinstate his rights as a holder, leaving litigation as his only remaining option.
“They wrongfully froze all of my tokens, stripped me of my right to vote on governance proposals, and have threatened to permanently destroy my tokens by ‘burning’ them—all without any proper justification. I do not believe President Trump would condone these actions if he knew about them,” he said. “All I want is to be treated the same as every other early investor who received tokens—no better, no worse.”
In the filing, Sun and his affiliated entities accuse World Liberty Financial of breach of contract, fraud, and conversion. The plaintiffs are asking the court to remedy the alleged misconduct and to stop what they describe as World Liberty’s ongoing violation of their rights.
The Tron founder is asking the court to order World Liberty Financial to unfreeze his WLFI tokens, pay damages to be set at trial, and refrain from burning, destroying, or otherwise tampering with his holdings.
Sun stressed that he still supports President Trump and the administration’s crypto-friendly agenda, attributing the dispute to individuals on the project team.
The lawsuit marks a formal escalation after months of public sparring between Sun and WLFI, and could test how US courts treat alleged centralized freeze controls in DeFi ventures.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch leaders and journalists provide expert insights
