TLDR
- Justin Sun filed a federal lawsuit against World Liberty Financial (WLFI), alleging his WLFI tokens worth ~$1 billion were illegally frozen
- Sun claims he was stripped of voting rights and threatened with having his tokens permanently “burned”
- World Liberty accused Sun of “misconduct” but has not detailed the allegations
- A third-party investor, Sameer Group CEO, has publicly offered to mediate the dispute
- The SEC recently dropped its separate investigation into Sun
Justin Sun, founder of the Tron blockchain and a major backer of Donald Trump’s crypto project World Liberty Financial, has sued the company in federal court in California. Sun alleges the firm illegally froze roughly four billion WLFI tokens he values at around $1 billion.
Sun initially invested $45 million in World Liberty and later purchased $100 million worth of Trump’s meme coins in July 2025. At peak value, his WLFI holdings were worth over $1 billion. Since September 2025, the WLFI token price has dropped from 31 cents to under 8 cents.
Sun claims World Liberty froze all of his tokens without justification. He says he was also stripped of his voting rights on governance proposals and threatened with having his tokens permanently destroyed through a process called “burning.”
Sun says he tried to resolve the dispute privately before going to court. When those efforts failed, he filed the complaint in the Northern District of California.
What World Liberty Is Alleging
World Liberty has publicly dismissed the lawsuit as “meritless” and “desperate.” Co-founder Zach Witkoff accused Sun of misconduct that forced the company to act to protect itself and its users, though neither he nor the firm has explained what that misconduct was.
Justin Sun’s recent lawsuit against @worldlibertyfi is a desperate attempt to deflect attention from Sun’s own misconduct. His claims are entirely meritless, and World Liberty looks forward to getting the case thrown out promptly.
He engaged in misconduct that required World…
— Zach Witkoff (@ZachWitkoff) April 22, 2026
Co-founder Eric Trump was more blunt. He compared the lawsuit to the infamous $6 million banana duct-taped to a wall — a piece of art Sun actually purchased and ate in 2024.
The only thing more ridiculous than this lawsuit is spending $6 million on a banana duct-taped to a wall. We are incredibly proud of the @worldlibertyfi team… https://t.co/ahfBKvCdwN
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) April 22, 2026
According to Sun’s complaint, World Liberty privately blamed him for a 40% crash in the WLFI token price on September 1, 2025, the first day it became tradable. The company also accused him of short-selling futures on a centralized exchange, which Sun denies.
World Liberty separately objected to his $100 million purchase of Trump meme coins, despite Sun saying a Trump family member who is a partner in both ventures approved the deal.
A Push for Settlement
The company also accused Sun of acting as a straw purchaser for other investors, making unauthorized transfers to exchanges HTX and Binance, and submitting inadequate KYC documents.
On September 25, 2025, co-founder Chase Herro allegedly threatened to report Sun to U.S. criminal authorities over KYC issues that Sun says were never clearly explained to him.
A separate dispute involves a WLFI governance proposal from April 15. Sun opposes it, saying it could lock tokens for holders who reject its terms — but he cannot vote on it because his voting rights have been removed.
Syed Sameer, CEO of Sameer Group LLC, publicly offered to mediate the situation. His group and UAE partners manage over $300 million in joint WLFI holdings. He posted on X that he is ready to help Sun get his tokens unlocked and settle the matter without a prolonged legal battle.
World Liberty has not yet filed a formal response in court.
