World Liberty Sues Justin Sun Over WLFI Shorting, Defamation

World Liberty Financial filed suit Monday in Florida state court, accusing Tron founder Justin Sun of shorting the WLFI token when it began public trading in September and of running a coordinated social-media campaign to depress the token’s price.

The complaint says World Liberty froze Sun’s large WLFI holdings after detecting what it calls “a large, deliberate, short-selling campaign designed to suppress $WLFI’s price” and that the freeze was authorized under Sun’s token unlock agreement to “prevent further harm” to the company and other token holders. The filing alleges Sun publicly demanded the tokens be unfrozen while privately threatening litigation that would “light World Liberty on fire” and cause WLFI’s price to “go to shit.” World Liberty characterizes additional public comments from Sun accusing its leaders of treating “the crypto community as a personal ATM” and calling them “bad actors” as defamatory and harmful.

World Liberty also alleges Sun paid influencers and deployed automated accounts to amplify negative posts about the token and the company. The suit seeks damages for alleged market manipulation and reputational harm. The case was filed in Florida, where World Liberty is based.

Sun filed a separate suit last month after World Liberty froze his tokens, arguing the lock violated his rights as an investor. On X, Sun called World Liberty’s defamation claim “nothing more than a meritless PR stunt” and wrote that he “looks forward to defeating the case in court.”

The complaint lays out a timeline beginning with WLFI’s public trading debut in September. World Liberty says it identified Sun’s large position and coordinated market attacks, then used contractual measures to lock his tokens. Sun’s lawsuit contends the freeze was improper; World Liberty counters that the token unlock agreement allowed the action to protect other holders.

Sun has been a major buyer of tokens tied to the Trump family’s crypto ventures, purchasing what he described as tens of millions of dollars’ worth of WLFI and millions more in a Trump-branded Solana token, TRUMP. World Liberty says ties with Sun cooled in recent months; he did not attend an April event at Mar-a-Lago for top coin holders.

Earlier this year, the SEC moved to settle a yearslong fraud case involving Sun; the settlement was followed by a reported resignation in the agency’s enforcement ranks. The two lawsuits will proceed in court amid competing claims over the token freeze, alleged short-selling and the use of online amplification.