Topline
Billionaire Justin Sun filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial crypto venture on Tuesday, accusing the organization—in which he was a major early investor—of wrongfully freezing his funds and stripping him of his right to vote on governance proposals.
Justin Sun accused WLFI’s leaders of going against President Trump’s values.
AFP via Getty Images
Key Facts
In a filing made before the Northern District of California Federal Court, Sun alleged the Trump-linked crypto firm is engaging in an “illegal scheme” to seize his $WLFI tokens.
The suit claims that the $WLFI token saw lackluster demand at first until the crypto billionaire invested $30 million in November 2024 and then upped his investment to $45 million in January 2025.
The filing says World Liberty’s links to the Trump family were one of the key reasons Sun invested in the company, but alleged the firm’s operators simply see it as an opportunity to “leverage the Trump brand to profit through fraud.”
The suit alleges that World Liberty attempted to pressure Sun to mint and promote its USD1 stablecoin, which is pegged to the dollar, and retaliated when he refused.
Despite promising decentralization, Sun alleges World Liberty changed its systems to give itself the power to blacklist wallets, freeze tokens and block his voting rights.
The suit alleges the company’s recent actions only serve to heighten concerns that it is on the “brink of collapse and potential insolvency.”
What Has Sun Said About The Lawsuit?
The billionaire announced his decision to file the suit in a lengthy X post and alleged the company’s leadership “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, however, notes that he does not blame Trump for these issues, saying: “This lawsuit does not change how I feel about President Trump or the Trump Administration. Unfortunately, certain individuals on the World Liberty project team have been operating the project in a manner that goes against President Trump’s values.” Sun claimed he tried in “good faith” to resolve the issue before going to court, but alleged that World Liberty’s leadership refused his requests.
Forbes Valuation
According to Forbes’ real time billionaire’s list, Justin Sun’s current net worth is $8.5 billion, making him the 423rd richest person in the world.
Tangent
In 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed civil charges against Sun and his companies, alleging they engaged in market manipulation and the sale of unregistered securities. The SEC alleged that Sun engaged in a scheme to artificially inflate the apparent trading volume of TRX, the native token of his Tron blockchain. Last February, a few months after Sun’s investment in World Liberty, the case was put on hold by a judge at both sides’ request. In March, Sun and his companies agreed to pay a $10 million settlement to the SEC to resolve the case, without admitting or denying the allegations.
Further Reading
President Trump’s Crypto Firm Expands Relationship With Embattled Blockchain Billionaire (Forbes)
Meet The Crypto Billionaire Who Helped The Trumps Make $400 Million (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2026/04/22/crypto-billionaire-justin-sun-sues-trumps-world-liberty-financial-after-investing-45-million/
