A defamation lawsuit was filed by World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency firm linked to U.S. President Donald Trump and his family, against Tron creator Justin Sun in a Florida state court on Monday. The suit alleges that Sun engaged in ‘gross misconduct’ concerning WLFI tokens he had acquired.
This legal action follows a federal lawsuit initiated by Sun in California against World Liberty Financial, where Sun claimed the company unjustly restricted his transfer of WLFI tokens. In its counter-suit, World Liberty contends that entities associated with Sun conducted straw purchases of WLFI tokens for investors and potentially engaged in short selling.
World Liberty froze Sun’s WLFI tokens to safeguard itself and the broader community, alleging that Sun’s tweets criticizing this action contained false or defamatory content. The lawsuit asserts that Sun hired influencers and utilized bots to spread misinformation, resulting in lost business opportunities for World Liberty.
Significant portions of the suit were redacted, including details about Sun’s token purchases and accusations of misconduct. Among these allegations is a purported ‘large, deliberate short-selling campaign’ aimed at depressing WLFI’s price at launch, allegedly linked to $300 million being transferred from Sun-associated wallets to Binance.
Upon discovering these violations, World Liberty invoked its contractual rights to freeze Sun’s tokens to prevent further damage. The lawsuit emphasizes that Sun was aware of the token freezing provisions prior to his public complaints.
The suit accuses Sun of defamation and seeks damages, legal costs, and a retraction of his statements.