Trump Family's Crypto Firm Accused of Extortion by Billionaire Backer

Justin Sun, a billionaire investor and supporter of Donald Trump, has filed a lawsuit against the Trump family's cryptocurrency venture World Liberty Financial.

Sun alleges that the company has engaged in an 'illegal scheme' to seize his WLFI tokens, which he initially invested $45 million in. He claims that the company has frozen all of his tokens and stripped him of his right to vote on governance issues, and has even threatened to 'burn' them, effectively deleting them entirely.

The lawsuit, filed in a San Francisco federal court, also accuses World Liberty of making false and misleading promises to token-holders. Sun claims that the company initially promised that tokens would be tradeable in the future, but has since blocked him from selling his own tokens.

World Liberty has denied any wrongdoing, with co-founder Eric Trump calling the lawsuit a 'desperate attempt' by Sun to deflect attention from his own misconduct. The company's other co-founders, including Chase Herro and Zach Witkoff, have also defended themselves against Sun's allegations.