Trump Family’s Crypto Firm Sues Justin Sun For Defamation – Tron Founder Calls It ‘PR Stunt’

• World Liberty Financial alleged Sun made false and defamatory statements and is seeking damages along with a public retraction.
• The company also accused Sun of unauthorized token transfers, short sales, and acquisitions through undisclosed parties.
• Sun dismissed the countersuit, calling it a “PR stunt” and stating he will fight the case in court.

World Liberty Financial (WLFI) announced on Monday that it was filing a countersuit against Justin Sun for defamation after the Tron (TRX) founder sued the Trump family crypto firm for freezing his WLFI tokens. 

In a post on X, Sun said that the lawsuit was “nothing more than a PR stunt,” and that he plans to fight it out in court.

World Liberty’s countersuit lawsuit alleged that Sun engaged in a "deliberate" campaign to publish false and defamatory statements about WLFI. The company is seeking damages as well as a public retraction of the statements Sun published on X.

The complaint also alleged that Sun is suspected of improper transfers. It said that he acquired WLFI tokens for undisclosed individuals through straw purchases and conducted unauthorized token transfer as well as short sales of the tokens. 

WLFI’s price climbed 4.65% in the last 24 hours amid broader strength in the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin (BTC) edged 0.4% higher to around $79,000 after breaching a three-month high of over $80,500.  

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around WLFI climbed higher within ‘extremely bullish’ territory and chatter remained at ‘extremely high’ levels. 

Why Did Justin Sun Sue Trump Family-Backed Crypto Firm?

In April, Sun accused World Liberty of being an “illegal scheme” to seize his WLFI tokens. He alleged that the firm, where President Donald Trump is listed as co-founder emeritus, froze all his tokens without consent, and stripped him of his right to vote on governance issues. 

Sun has also been posting about the company on X, including its recent governance vote to lock up over 63 million WLFI tokens which he called the “most absurd” proposals ever.

Why Does World Liberty Disagree With Justin Sun?

According to World Liberty, Sun agreed to WLFI’s freezing authority and that the Tron founder threatened the company before going public with his allegations.  It alleged that Sun told the company that the litigation he was contemplating would “light World Liberty on fire.”

The company said that Sun only took his “false accusations” to social media only after it refused to meet his demands.

“World Liberty filed this lawsuit as a last resort to correct the record and to protect its token holders, its employees, and all its stakeholders. We are eager to expose the falsity of Sun’s statements in court and in public,” said Tom Clare, attorney for World Liberty Financial. 

Read also: CRCL, COIN, MSTR Stocks Gain Amid Bitcoin’s Rally To Over $80K After Trump’s ‘Project Freedom’

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