Justin Sun called it a “worthless PR stunt.” World Liberty Financial, or WLFI, called it a lawsuit.
WLFI vs. Sun: Public dispute becomes legal
Crypto project linked to Trump filed a defamation suit against the Tron founder on Monday, accusing him of waging a deliberate campaign to ruin his reputation and lower the price of his symbols.
According to registrationAs of April 12, Sun began making false public statements on media channels and social media platforms – WLFI’s statements were intended to manipulate sentiment rather than raise legitimate concerns.
The lawsuit it doesn’t appear out of nowhere. Sun was deeply involved in the project. An entity related to him purchased $30 million worth of WLFI tokens in November 2024, and he joined WLFI as an advisor around the same time. The relationship looked solid – until it wasn’t.
Today we are filing a defamation lawsuit against Justin Sun. Sun began a coordinated media smear campaign against World Liberty Financial and would not stop, even in the face of the truth.
Here’s the story.🧵
— WLFI (@worldlibertyfi) May 4, 2026
Things started going wrong when Sun allegedly tried to transfer his tokens to Binance in violation of the terms he had agreed to. WLFI responded by freezing its assets, invoking its contractual right to do so. According to the company, the freezing was not a punishment but protection.
Sun launched a slanderous smear campaign in cooperation with the press, which happily shared his lies. Sun’s lies were, in his own words, intended to reduce the symbolic price “to shit.” pic.twitter.com/y4wmaTWDyc
— WLFI (@worldlibertyfi) May 4, 2026
Sun responds with its own lawsuit
Sun did not take the icy calmly. In tardy April, he first sued WLFI, claiming the company illegally locked up tokens that were once worth $1 billion and deprived him of his voting rights. His lawsuit named WLFI as the aggressor. WLFI’s defamation lawsuit, filed a few days later, tells a different story.
Based on reports WLFI’s filing claims that after the freeze, Sun made misleading claims about the project’s management and suggested there was a secret backdoor in its system.
Today I filed a lawsuit in federal court in California against World Liberty Financial to protect my rights as a shareholder $WLFI chips.
I have always been – and remain – a mighty supporter of President Trump and his administration’s efforts to make America cryptocurrency genial.…
— ON Justin Sun 👨🚀 🌞 (@justinsuntron) April 22, 2026
The company says these claims omitted disclosures already available in its filings. He also accuses Sun of using the money to further spread his message – allegedly working with influencers and bot accounts to amplify his social media posts.
Sun, for his part, confirmed that he is aware of the lawsuit and stands by everything he has done. He says he hopes to win in court.
The token hits drama
The WLFI token briefly jumped 8% after news of the lawsuit broke. However, this growth has a more challenging situation – the token is already down 15% compared to the previous week and 35% over the last month.
The lawsuit asked the court to hold Sun financially liable for damages caused by Sun WLFI sign. So far, reports have not stated how much this number could reach.
It is clear that two parties who once had a business relationship are now fighting this battle publicly and in court.
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView