World Liberty Financial filed a defamation countersuit Monday in Florida state court against Tron founder Justin Sun, drawing a new line in a legal feud that has surrounded one of the most politically charged projects in crypto.

The Trump-family-backed DeFi firm accused Sun of running "a scorched-earth pressure campaign" to millions of followers, rather than acting in good faith as an early backer.

Indeed, WLF's lawyers claimed the crypto tycoon took to social media to publicly assail World Liberty Financial after the protocol froze his (WLFI) token holdings, preventing him from selling a tranche now worth around $240 million at current prices.

The firm also alleges Sun said in his own words he wanted to drive the token price "to shit," and that he amplified the campaign by hiring influencers and deploying bots to spread his accusations across social media.

Sun strikes first

The countersuit arrives roughly a week after Sun fired the first legal shot.

In late April, Sun filed his own lawsuit against World Liberty Financial in federal court, alleging the Trump-backed firm fraudulently suspended his ability to offload his cryptocurrency position.

The public feud escalated further after a report revealed WLFI had deposited five billion of its own tokens into Dolomite — a DeFi lending platform co-founded by a WLFI adviser — as collateral to borrow roughly $75 million in stablecoins, temporarily locking ordinary depositors out of their funds.

Sun seized on the disclosure to go public with his accusations, calling WLFI's team out by name on X. His complaint also took direct aim at project co-founder Chase Herro, claiming that World Liberty's operators "see the project as a golden opportunity to leverage the Trump brand to profit through fraud."

Sun alleged that World Liberty secretly embedded backdoor controls into its token contract, and WLFI's sharp public warning to Sun that litigation was coming.

WLFI's countersuit alleges Sun, acting through his entity Blue Anthem, violated contractual obligations by purchasing tokens on behalf of other investors, executing prohibited transfers to Binance, and engaging in "short selling." They framed his public campaign as a pressure tactic to force the release of his frozen assets rather than a good-faith grievance.

Sun spent roughly $75 million acquiring WLFI tokens and another $100 million accumulating the Official Trump (TRUMP) memecoin, making him one of the project's most significant early backers. He even attended a dinner where President Trump spoke, open exclusively to top memecoin holders.

The freeze on his wallet came in September 2025, after he moved approximately $9 million worth of tokens. After the freeze, Sun went public on X with pointed accusations.

WLFI contends the freeze function was disclosed in its Terms of Sale and Sun's own purchase agreements. Sun has dismissed the countersuit as "a meritless PR stunt."

"I stand by my actions and look forward to defeating the case in court," Sun wrote on Monday.

WLFI's contentious journey

World Liberty Financial launched in October 2024 and has generated more than $1 billion in on-paper wealth by some estimates.

President Donald Trump and his sons Eric, Donald Jr., and Barron were listed as cofounders, alongside longtime Trump business associate Steve Witkoff and his son Zach.

Critics have argued that the project creates conflicts of interest and a pathway for wealthy investors to access the White House. Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who received a presidential pardon, reportedly helped develop a stablecoin connected to the project.

On the regulatory front, Sun's relationship with Washington had recently thawed. The SEC settled a longstanding lawsuit against him in March, three years after first suing him for alleged securities violations.

The White House has consistently pushed back on conflict-of-interest allegations tied to World Liberty Financial.