One of the Trump family’s biggest early crypto backers is now a foe. In response to claims of fraud by billionaire Justin Sun, the Trump-backed crypto firm World Liberty Financial filed a countersuit for defamation on Monday in Florida State court, claiming its former ally engaged in “a scorched-earth pressure campaign” against the crypto project as Sun pushed World Liberty Financial to release hundreds of millions of cryptocurrency he owned.
Sun is a crypto entrepreneur reportedly worth around $11 billion, and he’s funneled nearly $200 million into the Trump family’s digital assets projects. That includes the $75 million Sun spent on a cryptocurrency issued by World Liberty Financial and another $100 million on acquiring a store of President Donald Trump’s $TRUMP memecoin. The crypto mogul also attended a dinner Trump spoke at that was exclusively for top memecoin holders.
But Sun’s love affair with the Trumps turned into a bitter breakup in September after World Liberty Financial froze Sun’s tokens, preventing him from selling his tranche, which is now worth around $240 million at current market prices. The new lawsuit from World Liberty Financial claims Sun violated contractual obligations by buying tokens on behalf of other investors as well as engaging in “short selling.”
After his tokens were frozen, Sun repeatedly posted on social media in comments World Liberty Financial alleges were defamatory. “Every action taken by the WLFI team to secretly implant backdoor controls over user assets, to freeze investor funds without disclosure or due process, and to treat the crypto community as a personal ATM, [sic] someone must be held personally accountable for these actions,” wrote the crypto mogul on X.
In late April, Sun filed his own lawsuit against World Liberty Financial, denying any improper behavior and alleging the Trump-backed firm fraudulently suspended his ability to sell off his stash of World Liberty Financial’s cryptocurrency. “World Liberty’s operators, including Chase Herro, see the project as a golden opportunity to leverage the Trump brand to profit through fraud,” read the complaint, referring to one of the project’s cofounders.
Spokespeople for Justin Sun did not respond immediately to a request for comment on the countersuit.
“Rather than acting in good faith, Justin Sun chose to defame World Liberty—repeatedly, publicly, and to millions of followers,” Tom Clare, attorney for World Liberty Financial, said in a statement.
Crypto conflicts
Launched in October 2024, World Liberty Financial is arguably the crown jewel of the Trump family’s crypto empire, generating more than $1 billion in on-paper wealth, by some estimates. President Donald Trump, as well as his sons Eric, Donald Jr., and Barron, were once listed as cofounders on the website for the project, which aims to create a suite of applications in decentralized finance, a term that refers to running banking services like lending and borrowing on blockchain rails. Other cofounders include longtime Trump business partner Steve Witkoff as well as his son Zach.
Critics allege that World Liberty Financial has created unprecedented conflicts of interest and a pipeline for the wealthy to gain favor from the White House. The founder of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, who obtained a pardon from the President, reportedly helped develop a stablecoin launched by World Liberty Financial.
Sun also saw his fortunes change under the new administration. In 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission sued him for allegedly violating securities law. Three years later, in March, the SEC settled its longstanding lawsuit against Sun.
Spokespeople for World Liberty Financial and the White House have repeatedly pushed back against any intimations of conflicts of interest.
“Neither the President nor his family have ever engaged, or will ever engage, in conflicts of interest,” Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said in a prior statement to Fortune, adding that the administration “is fulfilling the President’s promise to make the United States the crypto capital of the world.”
