Justin Sun, founder of Tron and leading investor in World Liberty Financial, has been blacklisted by the Trump family’s crypto project. Although he had sworn not to sell his WLFI tokens, on-chain movements seem to suggest otherwise. What happened?
Justin Sun and World Liberty Financial
Justin Sun is the founder of Tron, a layer 1 blockchain based primarily on trading USDT, the stablecoin of the giant Tether. The cryptocurrency of its ecosystem, TRX, ranks 10th among the most capitalized cryptocurrencies at the time of writing.
But Justin Sun is also a businessman. He has been particularly involved in the Trump family’s crypto ventures, notably those of the three sons. For example, he acquired $100 million worth of the TRUMP memecoin—launched by the president—and $75 million worth of WLFI, the cryptocurrency of the Trumps’ main blockchain project, World Liberty Financial. WLFI was launched a few days ago, with a less than stellar debut: the cryptocurrency is down 44% since its launch. Concerned about the development of World Liberty Financial, Justin Sun has been clear: he will not sell his WLFI tokens. “I am convinced that this will be one of the most important and influential projects in crypto. The long-term vision is too strong, and I am fully aligned with this mission,” he said.
Beyond words, actions: the founder of Tron also announced that $200 million worth of USD1 would be in circulation on the blockchain. For the moment, there is still only $60 million.
In short, Justin Sun is very involved in the development of World Liberty Financial. And yet, to everyone’s surprise, one of his addresses was blacklisted yesterday: the founder of Tron can no longer trade or sell his WLFI tokens. But what happened?
The blockchain doesn’t lie
Currently, Justin Sun can no longer use his $100 million worth of WLFI tokens. He no longer even has governance rights over the project. Why? In reality, the answer remains hidden from the general public. World Liberty Financial has made absolutely no communication on the subject.
But soon, a few on-chain analysts, including Arkham and Nansen, figured out what was going on. Justin Sun, who claimed he would not sell his tokens in the short term, actually transferred more than $9 million worth of WLFI to new addresses, which in turn deposited them on the HTX cryptocurrency exchange (formerly Huobi). Justin Sun is also the owner of this exchange.
JUST IN: JUSTIN SUN’S ADDRESS BLACKLISTED FOR TRANSFERRING $9M $WLFI pic.twitter.com/O25281D7mi
— Arkham (@arkham) September 4, 2025
Another address, most likely belonging to Justin Sun, transferred $13.54 million to Binance two days ago.
The founder of Tron, for his part, has been tweeting repeatedly:
Our address only performed a few generic deposit tests to the exchange, with very small amounts, and then proceeded to disperse to different addresses, without involving any purchases or sales, which could in no way have an impact on the market.
Responding to a tweet from Alex Svanevik, CEO of Nansen, Justin Sun stated: “I am innocent.” The tweet in question was based on an analysis carried out by Nansen’s AI to verify whether Justin Sun was responsible for the drop in the WLFI price. However, his tokens remain frozen, and World Liberty Financial has yet to comment on the matter.
This morning, Justin Sun added fuel to the fire on X: “As one of the first major investors in World Liberty Financial, I brought not only capital, but also my trust and support for the future of this project. […] my tokens have been frozen without justification. […] Tokens are sacred and inviolable — this should be the most fundamental value of any blockchain. […] I call on the team to respect these principles, unfreeze my tokens, and move forward together toward the success of World Liberty Financial.” Indeed, at first glance, it is not normal for an address to be blacklisted on the pretext that it could have influenced the price of a token if it purchased them like any other investor. In reality, it seems more likely that an agreement was reached between World Liberty Financial and Justin Sun, prohibiting him from doing so.
To the World Liberty Financials team and the global community,
As one of the early major investors in World Liberty Financials, I have contributed not only capital but also my trust and support for the future of this project. My goal has always been to grow alongside the team…
— H.E. Justin Sun 👨🚀 (Astronaut Version) (@justinsuntron) September 5, 2025
Accusations are flying, and Justin Sun, who already has a controversial reputation, isn’t helping his case with his defense, which clearly lacks clarity. According to Cointelegraph, Justin Sun and the World Liberty Financial teams are “actively communicating” about this new case. To be continued.
