Trump family's crypto firm sued over alleged 'extortion'

Trump family's crypto firm sued over alleged 'extortion' 8 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleArchie MitchellBusiness reporterGetty ImagesJustin Sun at a crypto conference in 2025The Trump family's World Liberty crypto venture is being sued by one of its billionaire backers over allegations of extortion.Justin Sun has accused World Liberty of an "illegal scheme" to seize his WLFI tokens, a cryptocurrency issued by the company.Sun alleges the firm, co-founded by US President Donald Trump and his son Eric Trump, has "frozen" all of his tokens and stripped him of his right to vote on governance issues.The BBC has contacted Trump and World Liberty for comment.Sun is an ardent supporter of Trump and his stance on cryptocurrencies, but accused "certain individuals" associated with World Liberty of acting against the president's values."They wrongfully froze all of my tokens, stripped me of my right to vote on governance proposals, and have threatened to permanently destroy my tokens by 'burning' them - all without any proper justification," he said in a social media post announcing the lawsuit.Sun is the founder of a separate multi-billion dollar crypto project, TRON. He initially invested $45m (£33m) in World Liberty and said that, at times, his WLFI tokens have been valued at more than $1bn (£740m). Since September, the price of a single WLFI token has plunged from 31 cents to just under 8 cents.Sun said his backing was driven by the Trump family's association with the project and his long-standing support for cryptocurrencies. He also bought $100m of Trump's meme coins in July 2025, as well.Getty ImagesWorld Liberty's co-founders include Donald Trump and Eric TrumpBut Sun alleged that those running World Liberty, including another co-founder, Chase Herro, are using it as a "golden opportunity to leverage the Trump brand to profit through fraud".In his complain...