A major investor has filed a lawsuit against the Trump family's cryptocurrency company, World Liberty Financial, alleging extortion and wrongful seizure of digital assets.
Justin Sun, founder of the TRON blockchain platform and a prominent Trump supporter, claims the company froze all his WLFI tokens—valued at over $1 billion at their peak—and stripped him of voting rights on governance matters. In a social media post announcing the legal action, Sun accused World Liberty of threatening to permanently destroy his tokens by "burning" them without justification.
"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," Sun stated.
Sun initially invested $45 million in World Liberty, which was co-founded by former President Donald Trump and his son Eric Trump. He alleges that promises about token tradability were "false and misleading," and that while other investors could trade their tokens, his remained blocked from sale.
World Liberty has denied the allegations, with co-founder Zach Witkoff calling the lawsuit a "desperate attempt to deflect attention from Sun's own misconduct." The company claims it took necessary action to protect itself and its users.
Eric Trump responded with criticism of Sun's past art purchases, referencing the investor's $6 million acquisition and consumption of a duct-taped banana artwork in 2024.
The legal dispute emerges as WLFI token values have plummeted from 31 cents to under 8 cents since September, raising concerns among investors about World Liberty's financial practices. Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission recently dropped its investigation into Sun, prompting questions from Senator Elizabeth Warren about potential connections to his Trump-related investments.