World Liberty Financial (WLF), which is a cryptocurrency venture that was co-founded by President Donald Trump as well as his sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., has sued Justin Sun for defamation, alleging that the crypto billionaire has engaged in a smear campaign against the company.

WLF alleged on X “Sun launched a defamatory smear campaign in conjunction with press outlets that gleefully shared his lies. Sun’s lies were designed, in his own words, to drive the token price ‘to shit.'” Sun previously had to settle with the SEC when the government entity accused him and his companies of fraud. He had to pay $10 million to resolve allegations of illegally inflating the crypto asset Tronix.  

The complaint said, “This case arises out of a campaign of defamatory statements published by Defendant Yuchen (Justin) Sun on X (formerly Twitter) to his nearly four million followers.”

The lawsuit said that Sun bet against the company’s crypto tokens, which trade under the $WLFI ticker, and that he did so with third-parties in order to conceal his identity. In response, WLF froze Sun’s tokens to “protect World Liberty and the broader community of $WLFI holders.”

“Nevertheless, rather than work constructively with World Liberty to address the misconduct, Sun embarked on a scorched earth pressure campaign against World Liberty to try to extract hundreds of millions of dollars from World Liberty, including having his counsel threaten litigation designed to ‘light World Liberty on fire’,” the lawsuit stated.

“When World Liberty refused to capitulate to Sun’s threats, Sun launched his public smear campaign,” the lawsuit further stated.

The lawsuit added that “Sun weaponized his money and his influence within the industry, 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.”

WLF accused Sun of being “profoundly harmful” to the business of WLF, and the lawsuit further alleged that WLF “has lost specific business opportunities as a direct result of Sun’s false statements, and Sun’s statements have been widely reported by major media outlets, including NBC News, Reuters, The Guardian, and Bloomberg. Trust is fundamental in the cryptocurrency community, and Sun’s false statements strike at the core of World Liberty’s reputation, undermining its business relationships and ability to operate.”

“Sun had numerous legitimate avenues to contest the freezing of his $WLFI tokens. Aware that his misconduct had no explanation, rather than pursue these avenues, Sun chose instead to wage a public campaign of false and defamatory attacks against World Liberty. This lawsuit seeks to hold Sun accountable for that misconduct,” the complaint added.

WLF is being represented by Clare Locke LLP in the case. “Rather than acting in good faith, Justin Sun chose to defame World Liberty — repeatedly, publicly, and to millions of followers. World Liberty filed this lawsuit as a last resort to correct the record and to protect its token holders, its employees, and all its stakeholders. We are eager to expose the falsity of Sun’s statements in court and in public,” Tom Clare, the attorney for WLF said.