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Justin Sun seeks sanctions against World Liberty, saying the Trump-linked firm hid its UAE ties until months into his $45 million lawsuit
Summary
Tron founder Justin Sun said Tuesday he has filed a motion seeking sanctions against World Liberty Financial, and CoinDesk reported the motion also targets the company's lawyers, alleging the firm failed to disclose its United Arab Emirates citizenship until months into their court fight, The Block and CoinDesk reported.
Sun, who says he invested $45 million in WLFI tokens, sued the Trump-linked venture in April, accusing it of fraud and unlawfully freezing his tokens, according to both outlets.
World Liberty first told the California federal court it was a Florida citizen, then amended its disclosure to list 22 members in its ownership chain and citizenship in Florida, Delaware, Puerto Rico and the UAE, Sun said; World Liberty now argues the federal court lacks jurisdiction, CoinDesk reported.
Sun said he plans to refile the lawsuit in California state court after the sanctions motion is resolved; CoinDesk noted the allegations are disputed and the court has not found that World Liberty intentionally concealed its ownership.
Updates
- Update, : Update (Nov. 4): Cointelegraph reported that Sun is seeking $264,000 in sanctions and that a hearing on the motion is set for Dec. 10.
- Update, : Update (Nov. 9): Asked why World Liberty's UAE-linked investors were different from arrangements he would criticize, President Trump said, “Because I know nothing about it,” and said his sons run the business, according to CoinDesk, Decrypt and The Block. CoinDesk described the interview as a CBS 60 Minutes segment aired Sunday, while Decrypt said it was an interview with columnist Ross Douthat whose transcript CBS News published. CoinDesk reported that Sun plans to refile in California state court once the sanctions dispute is resolved.
Key facts
- "World Liberty was proudly American when it was selling tokens," Sun wrote on X. "It discovered its UAE roots only when it needed a way out of an American federal courtroom."
- World Liberty revised its disclosure less than a week after an August hearing at which the court ruled some of Sun's claims should stay in public court while others go to arbitration, according to Sun.
- World Liberty's lawyers have said they learned of the UAE citizenship after filing the original disclosure, according to Sun; the company could not be reached for comment.
- Sun agreed to buy $30 million of WLFI tokens in November 2024 before raising his total investment to $45 million.
- World Liberty countersued Sun in May, accusing him of running a 'meritless PR stunt' after his tokens were frozen.
- WLFI peaked around $0.33 and trades near $0.051, for a fully diluted valuation of about $5.1 billion, per The Block.