Justin Sun seeks sanctions against World Liberty, alleging Trump-linked firm hid UAE ties

Tron founder Justin Sun said Tuesday he has filed a motion seeking sanctions against World Liberty Financial, alleging the DeFi protocol failed to disclose its United Arab Emirates citizenship until months into their legal dispute.

Sun, who says he invested $45 million in WLFI tokens, sued the Trump-linked crypto venture in April, accusing it of fraud and unlawfully freezing his tokens.

The dispute over World Liberty's citizenship emerged after the company amended an initial court disclosure that had listed only one entity in its ownership chain and Florida as its sole citizenship. In a subsequent filing, World Liberty identified 22 members in its ownership chain and claimed citizenship in Florida, Delaware, Puerto Rico, and the UAE, according to Sun.

Sun alleges the late disclosure was an attempt to challenge the federal court's jurisdiction and push the case out of open court. World Liberty was "proudly" American when selling tokens, he said, but discovered its UAE roots "only when it needed a way out of an American federal courtroom."

Under federal diversity jurisdiction rules, Sun argued, his case could proceed in federal court only if he and World Liberty were citizens of different jurisdictions. Because a company takes on the citizenship of its owners for these purposes, World Liberty's UAE ties could undermine the court's jurisdiction.

Sun said he plans to refile the lawsuit in California state court after the sanctions motion is resolved.

In May, World Liberty Financial countersued Sun, accusing him of running a "meritless PR stunt" against the Trump-family-backed crypto project after his tokens were frozen.

World Liberty debuted in October 2024 amid significant scrutiny because of its association with President Donald Trump and his family. The WLFI token reached an all-time high of around $0.33 and currently trades near $0.051, giving it a fully diluted valuation of approximately $5.1 billion.