Justin Sun, a prominent figure in the cryptocurrency industry and a billionaire entrepreneur, has initiated a legal battle in a California federal court against World Liberty Financial (WLF), a platform launched with the involvement of US President Donald Trump.
Sun announced the details regarding the litigation process through a public statement shared on the social media platform X.
World Liberty Financial operates as a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform that allows users to borrow and lend crypto assets, conduct transactions using stablecoins, and establish liquidity pools.
The platform was founded in 2024 by Zachary Folkman, Chase Herro, Alex Witkoff, and Zac Witkoff. Members of Donald Trump’s family are also listed among the co-founders.
Under existing agreements, the Trump family maintains the right to receive 75% of net profits generated from WLFI token sales, as well as a share of revenues derived from stablecoin transactions.
While Justin Sun stated that he remains a supporter of President Trump and the administration’s efforts to transform the US into a crypto-friendly hub, he alleged that certain individuals within the WLF management are operating the project in a manner contrary to the president’s values.
Sun claimed that these executives froze all tokens belonging to him, revoked his voting rights on governance proposals, and threatened to “burn” and destroy his assets without any legal basis.
“I do not believe President Trump would approve of these actions if he were aware of these circumstances,” the billionaire businessman remarked.
Sun noted that he attempted to resolve the matter through mediation before escalating the situation to the court, but his requests to lift the freeze on the tokens and restore his rights were rejected.
In his statement on the matter, Sun said, “My only request is to receive the same treatment as all other early investors who purchased tokens; neither better nor worse.”
According to information reported by Bloomberg, Sun purchased 3 billion WLFI tokens for $45 million over the course of 2024 and 2025.
Additionally, it was stated that a further 1 billion tokens were allocated to him in exchange for advisory services provided to the project.
In the legal complaint filed on Tuesday, Sun alleged that WLF “secretly established” the authorities that allowed the platform to freeze his assets, an action he claims has caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damages to himself and his private companies.
The report further noted that in September, WLF co-founder Chase Herro allegedly threatened to burn Sun’s tokens, which had a market value of $776 million at the time.
The complaint emphasizes that Sun was intimidated with threats of being reported to authorities should he seek to exercise his rights, tactics characterized in the filing as “criminal blackmail and extortion.”
Justin Sun has requested that the court lift the freeze on his assets, award compensation for damages incurred, and issue an injunction to prevent World Liberty Financial from destroying his tokens.
According to Forbes data, Sun’s current net worth is estimated at $8.5 billion. He is the founder of the TRON platform, a global advisor to the crypto exchange Huobi HTX, and the owner of Rainberry.
Records also referenced Sun’s previous legal proceedings, specifically a lawsuit filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in March 2023 against Sun and his companies.
In that case, Sun was accused of the illegal distribution of Tronix and BitTorrent assets, the artificial inflation of trading volumes, and the concealment of payments made to celebrities for promotional activities.
The records recalled that following settlement negotiations that began in February 2025, an agreement was reached between the SEC and Justin Sun in March, leading to the dismissal of the charges.
As part of this settlement, the company Rainberry was ordered to pay an administrative fine totaling $10 million.
