In a move that surprises absolutely no one familiar with the crypto space, the Trump family's World Liberty Financial crypto venture is being sued by one of its own billionaire backers. Justin Sun, founder of the separate multi-billion dollar TRON project, has accused the firm co-founded by US President Donald Trump and his son Eric Trump of an "illegal scheme" to seize his WLFI tokens.
Sun alleges the company has "frozen" all of his tokens, stripped him of his right to vote on governance issues, and is threatening to permanently destroy them by "burning" them - all without proper justification. This is a particularly spicy allegation given that Sun initially invested $45m (£33m) and claims his WLFI tokens have, at times, been valued at more than $1bn. The price of a single WLFI token has helpfully plunged from 31 cents to just under 8 cents since September, adding financial insult to alleged injury.
The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in a San Francisco federal court, argues that initial promises to give token-holders the option to trade the currency were "false and misleading." While other tokens became tradeable, Sun says World Liberty has blocked him from selling a single one. He claims his backing was driven by the Trump family's association and his support for crypto, noting he also bought $100m of Trump's meme coins in July 2025. Sun now alleges those running World Liberty, including co-founder Chase Herro, are using it as a "golden opportunity to leverage the Trump brand to profit through fraud."
World Liberty, for its part, has denied wrongdoing with the practiced ease of a company used to headlines. Co-founder Zach Witkoff, son of President Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, called the lawsuit a "desperate attempt to deflect attention from Sun's own misconduct." He claimed Sun engaged in "misconduct that required World Liberty to take action to protect itself and its users." Eric Trump added a characteristically subtle rebuttal: "The only thing more ridiculous than this lawsuit is spending $6m on a banana duct-taped to a wall." This is a reference to Sun's 2024 purchase and consumption of Maurizio Cattelan's infamous banana artwork.
Meanwhile, investors are reportedly concerned about World Liberty borrowing against the value of its tokens. In a related twist, the Securities and Exchange Commission has dropped its investigation into Sun, prompting Senator Elizabeth Warren to question 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 without disclosure.
In other Trump-adjacent business news, the Trump business behind his Truth Social platform replaced its chief executive Devin Nunes after a sharp fall in its share price. Kevin McGurn, formerly of Hulu, Vevo and T-Mobile, will temporarily take over. Shares in Trump Media & Technology have fallen in value by almost two thirds in the past year as it struggles to attract users beyond the president himself.