Billionaire investor files fraud lawsuit against Trump crypto venture and claims it’s on ‘verge of collapse’

Billionaire businessman Justin Sun has filed a lawsuit against the Trump family’s cryptocurrency venture World Liberty Financial, claiming his multi-million dollar investment was secured through fraud and alleging that WLF is “on the verge of collapse.” Sun claims his tokens have been indefinitely frozen and his voting rights revoked since he refused to accept the terms of a new governance proposal submitted on April 15, which required that 10 percent of all company advisers’ tokens be permanently burned.In a 52-page complaint filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Monday, Sun – an adviser himself – explains that he “lawfully purchased” $45 million-worth of WLF tokens, “which at times have been valued at over $1 billion,” in 2024, at what he said was a “pivotal time” for the venture.Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump, the president's sons, oversee World Liberty Financial, the family's controversial cryptocurrency venture (Getty)Sun credits his “decisive anchor investment” with helping to establish the credibility of WLF, which is run by the president’s sons Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump, by delivering a timely “public vote of confidence” when it was a fledgling prospect struggling with “lackluster demand.”He says he was moved to become involved “because of the project’s claims that it would promote adoption of decentralized finance,” a personal pet cause, and “because of the Trump family’s association with the project,” describing himself as a long-time “ardent supporter of President [Donald] Trump and the Trump family.”However, Sun explains that he soon became disenchanted with his investment and alleges that WLF’s “operators” treated the project “as a golden opportunity to leverage the Trump brand to profit through fraud,” alleging that they made him “a prime target of their fraudulent scheme” and that he and his companies had duly incurred “hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.”The complaint goes on to accuse WLF of making multiple false statements, inducing Sun’s investments through fraud and scheming to secure more capital from him, misrepresenting the company’s compliance with the law, improperly freezing his tokens, making threats and defamation.It further alleges that WLF is currently “on the verge of collapse” and “severe financial insolvency” and has planned to pay “most of the token sale proceeds – up to 95 percent – to company insiders.”Sun and his companies are seeking a jury trial and hope to force WLF to unfreeze his tokens and block it from “seizing, burning, destroying, or encumbering” them, as well as damages and costs.The Independent has reached out to the Trump Organization for comment.Justin Sun, founder of Tron, is suing World Liberty Financial but insists he has no grudge against the president personally (Reuters)In a post on X (Twitter), Sun was at pains to make clear that he continued to support Trump personally despite the litigation, but had come to feel that “certain individuals on the World Liberty project team have been operating the project in a manner that goes against President Trump’s values.” He listed the wrongs he believes he has suffered but excused the president himself, who is credited as WLF’s “chief crypto advocate,” stating: “I do not believe President Trump would condone these actions if he knew about them.”Born in China but a citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis with a home in Hong Kong, Sun’s company, Tron, was reportedly the subject of interest from the Department of Justice and the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network during the Biden era, amid concerns about its “growing in popularity among illicit actors.” The Securities and Exchange Commission had also charged him with fraudulently manipulating the market.However, The Wall Street Journal noted that his “fortunes took a turn” after he began investing in WLF, causing the SEC to drop its charges in February 2025 and the other government inquiries to fall away.Sun has always denied any wrongdoing and said that his involvement in the president’s cryptocurrency project was not “politically-motivated.”Since Trump’s return to power last year, WLF has been regularly hit by accusations concerning potential conflicts of interest and its alleged vulnerability to foreign influence, with Hunter Biden recently invoking it to attack the Trumps by saying, “Their hypocrisy knows no bounds.”