Justin Sun has filed a lawsuit against members of his own family’s cryptocurrency venture, World Liberty, alleging breach of contract and fraudulent misrepresentation after investing $45 million in the project’s native token, according to court filings reviewed by World Today News. The lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of New York on April 3, 2024, names Justin Sun’s brother, Justin Sun Jr., and his cousin, Li Wei, as defendants. Sun claims he was induced to purchase $45 million worth of WLTY tokens — the utility token of World Liberty’s decentralized finance platform — under false pretenses regarding the project’s technological roadmap, tokenomics, and regulatory compliance. According to the complaint, Sun was presented with a private placement memorandum in January 2024 that promised WLTY holders would receive 40% of platform revenues, priority access to new DeFi products, and guaranteed liquidity through a $100 million reserve fund backed by institutional investors. Sun alleges these representations were knowingly false, as no such reserve fund existed, revenue-sharing mechanisms were never coded into the smart contracts, and the platform’s core protocols remained in alpha testing at the time of purchase. The filing includes email exchanges between Sun and Li Wei dated December 2023 through February 2024, in which Li Wei reportedly assured Sun that “the tokenomics are audited by CertiK and the liquidity lock is live on-chain.” Sun’s legal team contends these statements were misleading, noting that CertiK’s public audit repository shows no record of a full audit for World Liberty’s token contract as of the investment date, and the liquidity lock referenced in the emails pertains to a different, unrelated token on Binance Smart Chain. World Liberty, launched in late 2023, positions itself as a family-backed initiative to bridge traditional finance with decentralized applications, focusing on cross-border remittances and tokenized real-world assets in Southeast Asia. The venture has not registered its token offering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, nor has it filed Form D for private placements, raising questions about its compliance with Regulation D exemptions. Sun, founder of the Tron blockchain and former CEO of BitTorrent, has been a prominent figure in the cryptocurrency space since 2017. His investment in World Liberty represents one of his largest direct allocations to a family-affiliated project in recent years. The lawsuit does not seek to dissolve World Liberty or halt its operations but requests rescission of the token purchase, restitution of the $45 million, plus interest, and punitive damages for alleged fraud. As of April 10, 2024, neither Justin Sun Jr. Nor Li Wei has filed a formal response to the complaint. World Liberty’s official website and social media channels remain active, though no public statement addressing the litigation has been issued. The project’s Telegram and Discord communities show no notable decline in activity, with administrators continuing to promote upcoming staking features and partnership announcements. The court has scheduled a preliminary conference for May 15, 2024, to determine whether the case will proceed to discovery. No settlement discussions have been publicly disclosed. The outcome may influence how courts interpret familial trust and representation in private cryptocurrency investments, particularly where sophisticated investors allege reliance on informal assurances from relatives involved in token ventures.
Justin Sun Sues Family’s World Liberty Crypto Venture After $45M Token Investment
