World Liberty Countersues Justin Sun for Defamation in Florida Over WLFI Freeze

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World Liberty Financial has sued Justin Sun for defamation in Florida state court, accusing the Tron founder of running a public smear campaign after the Trump-backed crypto venture froze his WLFI tokens. The filing comes less than two weeks after Sun sued World Liberty in California federal court over the same token freeze.

World Liberty Claims Sun Launched a Smear Campaign After Token Freeze

World Liberty said it filed the new lawsuit on May 4 and accused Sun of making false public statements intended to damage the company and pressure it into reversing the freeze on his tokens. The company also alleged that Sun improperly transferred some WLFI tokens to Binance and separately bet against the token as public trading began.

In a statement posted with the lawsuit announcement, chief executive Zach Witkoff said:

“Justin Sun engaged in a defamatory campaign to torch World Liberty Financial’s reputation. He knew his claims were false and made them anyway to harm WLFI token holders.”

The company described the case as a defamation action, not as a response filed inside Sun’s earlier California lawsuit.

Sun Calls the New Case a “Meritless PR Stunt”

Sun rejected the allegations and said World Liberty’s new suit would not change his position. In his own public response, he wrote:

“The alleged defamation lawsuit that World Liberty announced on X today is nothing more than a meritless PR stunt. I stand by my actions and look forward to defeating the case in court.”

That response matches the position Sun has taken since filing his April complaint. In that suit, he accused World Liberty of freezing billions of WLFI tokens he controls and said the company added transfer restrictions without proper governance approval.

The dispute is now split across two cases, with Sun pursuing claims in California federal court while World Liberty presses defamation claims in Florida state court.

The New Suit Focuses on Token Transfers, Shorting and Public Statements

World Liberty’s Florida complaint says Sun’s public statements were false and damaging. It also alleges he transferred voting and governance tokens to Binance in violation of his agreement and engaged in short-selling tied to WLFI’s September 2025 trading debut.

Those allegations go beyond the company’s first public responses last month, which accused Sun of unspecified misconduct but did not spell out the claims in detail. The new filing puts those accusations into a formal lawsuit rather than leaving them only in X posts. World Liberty also said its authority to freeze tokens had already been disclosed in the token’s terms of sale.

Sun Says World Liberty Illegally Froze Tokens and Blocked Voting Rights

Sun’s California lawsuit, filed on April 21, alleges that World Liberty froze his tokens after they became tradable and threatened to destroy them. He says the company secretly installed tools that prevented sales and stripped him of voting rights.

That complaint also denies that Sun shorted WLFI. It says the company used shifting accusations, including claims tied to KYC, token transfers and market activity, to justify blocking tokens that Sun valued at as much as $1 billion.

As of publication, World Liberty had not filed a formal response to Sun’s earlier California case.

The Dispute Marks a Sharp Break in a Once-Close Relationship

Sun was one of World Liberty’s earliest and most visible backers. He bought tens of millions of dollars of WLFI in late 2024 and early 2025 and was later named an advisor to the venture.

That relationship has now collapsed into competing lawsuits, public accusations, and conflicting accounts of who caused the token dispute. The conflict is now playing out in court as both sides press competing claims.