Update (April 22, 06:40 UTC): This piece was updated with additional background on Justin Sun and World Liberty Financial.
Tron founder Justin Sun has filed suit in a U.S. federal court in California against World Liberty Financial (WLFI), alleging the project froze his tokens and threatened to burn them “without any proper justification.” Sun says the complaint seeks to protect his rights as a token holder after attempts to resolve the dispute with WLFI privately failed.
Sun posted that he negotiated in good faith to have WLFI unfreeze his tokens and restore his voting rights, but ultimately felt he had “no choice but to turn to the courts.” He had previously warned of legal action over WLFI’s lengthy lockup terms for its governance token and criticized a recent governance proposal he called insufficiently transparent, noting that 76% of voting power was concentrated in 10 wallets.
WLFI replied on social media, calling Sun’s allegations “baseless” and stating, “We have the contracts. We have the evidence. We have the truth. See you in court.”
The contested April 15 governance proposal would re-lock tokens held by founders, team members, and advisors for two years, then release them gradually over three years. It also includes a 10% burn on advisor tokens if adopted. WLFI says holders who do not agree to the new schedule would remain governed by the existing lockup terms.
Sun argues the proposal would harm the community because token holders who do not affirmatively accept the new schedule could remain locked indefinitely, and he cannot vote on the change because his early-investor tokens are frozen.
Sun said the lawsuit does not alter his political views; he remains a supporter of former U.S. President Donald Trump and has criticized some WLFI actors as operating counter to those values. Public data and reporting suggest Sun is among the largest holders of the TRUMP memecoin, a position that earned him an invitation to a crypto gala dinner in May 2025 and a commemorative watch. Crypto analytics site CoinCarp lists 642,882 TRUMP holders, with over 91% of supply concentrated in the top 10 wallets and more than 97% in the top 100.
Cointelegraph has reached out to Tron and World Liberty Financial for comment. Readers are encouraged to verify details independently as the case proceeds.