This billionaire backed Trump's crypto firm. Now he's suing it
What's the story
Justin Sun, a billionaire investor and cryptocurrency advocate, has filed a lawsuit against World Liberty Financial (WLFI), the crypto venture co-founded by US President Donald Trump and his son Eric Trump. The lawsuit alleges an "illegal scheme" to seize Sun's WLFI tokens. He claims that the company has "frozen" all of his tokens and stripped him of his right to vote on governance issues.
Accusations
'Acting against Trump's values'
Sun, who is also the founder of multi-billion dollar crypto project TRON, accused certain individuals associated with World Liberty of acting against Trump's values. He said 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."
Investment details
Initial $45 million investment soared to over $1 billion
Sun, a staunch supporter of Trump and his cryptocurrency policies, had initially invested $45 million in World Liberty. At one point, his WLFI tokens were worth over $1 billion. However, since September last year, the value of a single WLFI token has plummeted from 31 cents to just under 8 cents.
Legal proceedings
'Desperate attempt to deflect attention'
In his complaint filed in a San Francisco federal court, Sun alleged that initial promises to give token-holders the option to trade the currency in future were "false and misleading." He claimed World Liberty has blocked him from selling even one token and is now threatening to "burn" his tokens. Responding to these allegations, Zach Witkoff, another co-founder of World Liberty, called Sun's lawsuit a "desperate attempt to deflect attention from Sun's own misconduct."
Investigation update
SEC drops investigation into Sun
The SEC has dropped its investigation into Sun, with Senator Elizabeth Warren questioning if it was tied to his investments in Trump's crypto ventures. Sun had been accused of paying high-profile influencers to promote his companies on social media without disclosing the payments. Eric said, "The only thing more ridiculous than this lawsuit is spending $6M on a banana duct-taped to a wall." In 2024, Sun bought Maurizio Cattelan's artwork of a banana duct-taped to a wall.