World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency venture co-founded by President Donald Trump and his sons, on Monday sued Justin Sun for defamation, alleging that the crypto billionaire engaged in a "public smear campaign" to attack the business. 

The lawsuit, filed in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Florida, seeks unspecified damages and a public retraction of statements Sun made on social media about World Liberty Financial. 

The allegations mark an escalation in the conflict between World Liberty Financial and Sun, a major investor. In April, Sun sued the startup for fraud, claiming he was illegally blocked from selling digital tokens worth up to $1 billion. 

"Scorched earth"

In its lawsuit, World Liberty Financial alleges that Sun bet against the company's crypto tokens, which trade under the $WLFI ticker, and made so-called straw purchases by using third parties to purchase tokens to conceal his identity. The company also said it froze tokens owned by one of Sun's companies 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 claims. 

"When World Liberty refused to capitulate to Sun's threats, Sun launched his public smear campaign," the company further alleged.

Sun's attorneys didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. 

In a post on X, Sun on Monday dismissed World Liberty Financial's suit as "a meritless PR stunt." He added, "I stand by my actions and look forward to defeating the case in court."

The World Liberty Financial lawsuit alleges that Sun made false claims on social media, including allegations that the company "treat[s] the crypto community as a personal ATM" and that its governance practices were improper. World Liberty Financial also accused Sun of employing online influencers and "fake social-media 'bot' accounts to amplify his lies."

"Collectively, Sun's posts were viewed millions of times and generated widespread media coverage," the lawsuit claims. 

Because Sun is a prominent figure in the crypto industry, his comments were "profoundly harmful to World Liberty," the company alleges. 

Sun, who founded the decentralized blockchain platform Tron in 2017, has a net wealth of nearly $12 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. In 2024, he made headlines for his $6.2 million purchase of a piece of conceptual art consisting of a banana duct-taped to a wall.