World Liberty Financial, the cryptocurrency venture co-founded by Donald Trump and his sons, has launched a counter-defamation suit against a billionaire who is accusing the project of extortion.
The Trump-backed World Liberty Financial accuses crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun of attempting a “coordinated media smear” in order to “destroy” the cryptocurrency community’s trust in World Liberty and “tank” the price of its eponymous token.
Sun sued World Liberty Financial in April, alleging that it had illegally frozen tens of millions of dollars’ worth of WLFI tokens and prevented him from selling off his stash, potentially costing him hundreds of millions of dollars.
In an April post on X, Sun accused WLFI of secretly implementing “backdoor” controls to allow it to “treat the crypto community as a personal ATM.”
World Liberty Financial has now filed a defamation lawsuit against Sun in a Florida court, accusing him of engaging in prohibited token transfers, buying tokens on behalf of other investors, and engaging in short selling. World Liberty Financial added that Sun was also well aware of the company’s right to freeze user tokens.
“When World Liberty exercised its right to freeze these tokens to protect the ecosystem, Sun didn’t seek a good-faith resolution. Instead, he launched a coordinated smear campaign,” WLFI said in a statement posted on X.
World Liberty Financial also alleged the Chinese-born billionaire “weaponized” his money and his influence within the industry by hiring influencers and deploying fake social-media “bot” accounts to “amplify his lies.”
“His actions were coordinated, deliberate, and aimed at burning World Liberty to the ground,” the lawsuit adds.
In a statement, Sun described the defamation lawsuit filed against him as “nothing more than a meritless PR stunt.”
“I stand by my actions and look forward to defeating the case in court,” he added.
At the time of his WLFI investment, Sun had been under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission for alleged market manipulation. The case against Sun, the most prominent buyer of the World Liberty Financial crypto token, was settled in March without any admission of wrongdoing.
Sun is also known for spending $6.2 million on an artwork featuring a banana duct-taped to a wall, and then promptly eating the fruit.
The president’s son, Eric Trump, previously blasted Sun’s “extortion” case against WLFI. “The only thing more ridiculous than this lawsuit is spending $6 million on a banana duct-taped to a wall,” he said.
