The Trump family's World Liberty Financial crypto venture is being sued by one of its billionaire backers over allegations of extortion.
Justin Sun has accused World Liberty of an 'illegal scheme' to seize his WLFI tokens, a cryptocurrency issued by the company. Sun alleges the firm, co-founded by US President Donald Trump and his son Eric Trump, has 'frozen' all of his tokens and stripped him of his right to vote on governance issues.
World Liberty has denied wrongdoing and accused Sun of 'playing the victim while making baseless allegations to cover up his own misconduct'. Sun, an ardent supporter of Trump, claims that certain individuals associated with the venture are acting against the president's values.
In a social media post announcing the lawsuit, Sun stated, '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 is the founder of a separate multi-billion dollar crypto project, TRON. He initially invested $45 million in World Liberty and mentioned that his WLFI tokens had, at times, been valued at over $1 billion. However, since September, the price of a single WLFI token has plummeted from 31 cents to just under 8 cents.
Sun expressed that his backing for World Liberty was motivated by the Trump family's association with the project and his long-standing support for cryptocurrencies. He also purchased $100 million of Trump's meme coins in July 2025.
Despite the company's public denials, Sun alleged that the management is exploiting the Trump brand for fraud, pointing out that initial promises about future trading options for token holders were 'false and misleading'. According to Sun, while other tokens became tradeable, World Liberty has prevented him from selling any and is threatening to delete his tokens entirely.
World Liberty co-founder Zach Witkoff dismissed Sun's accusations as a 'desperate attempt to deflect attention' from his alleged misconduct, claiming that Sun's actions necessitated protective measures from the firm.
Sun, who had faced high-profile scrutiny regarding his promotional tactics involving influencers, noted that the SEC recently dropped its investigation into him, with political figures questioning the implications of his investments in Trump's venture.
As this lawsuit unfolds, the broader concerns about World Liberty’s financial strategies and the ongoing turbulence surrounding Trump's business ventures loom large.
