Billionaire Investor Sues Trump Crypto Venture for Fraud, Says It's on 'Verge of Collapse'
Source: MEDIAite
Apr 21st, 2026, 8:20 pm
Billionaire Justin Sun, who invested in a crypto project backed by President Donald Trump and his family, filed a lawsuit Tuesday in a California federal court, alleging that his multi-million dollar investment was procured through fraud and the project is now on the verge of collapse.
The Trump family businesses have been intertwined with various cryptocurrency endeavors for the past several years, raising ethical concerns about foreign influence and conflicts of interest. World Liberty Financial (WLF) is one of those entities and was involved in a $2 billion transaction by a state-owned United Arab Emirates firm, MGX, last year. Legal experts criticized the deal as a potential violation of the emoluments clause of the U.S. Constitution.
The management of WLF includes Trumps sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and Zach Witkoff, son of Trump Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff. The president is listed as the companys chief crypto advocate and his youngest son, 20-year-old Barron Trump, is named the DeFi (decentralized finance) visionary. In February, Donald Jr. and Eric Trump hosted a World Liberty Forum to promote the crypto firms offerings. Sun was among the investors in WLF, according to the 52-page complaint (embedded below) he and several of his corporate entities filed against World Liberty Financial in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Monday.
In the complaint, Sun says he lawfully purchased cryptocurrency in the form of cryptographically secured digital $WLFI tokens, which at times have been valued at over $1 billion from WLF, adding that he is a globally recognized entrepreneur in the crypto industry and the founder of the TRON blockchain network whose native digital TRX tokens currently have a market capitalization of over $31 billion, making them among the top ten most valuable digital assets in the world.
Read more: https://www.mediaite.com/lawcrime/breaking-billionaire-investor-sues-trump-crypto-project-for-fraud-says-its-on-verge-of-collapse/
Link to SUIT (PDF viewer) - https://www.scribd.com/document/1029632343/YUCHEN-JUSTIN-SUN-et-al-vs-WORLD-LIBERTY-FINANCIAL-LLC
twodogsbarking
(19,026 posts)Amethyst Ring
(52 posts)It only takes years of bad experiences and peeing on the electric fence numerous times!
lastlib
(28,420 posts)only peed on the electric fence once........He thought it had been unhooked.
Ray Bruns
(6,531 posts)
3Hotdogs
(15,447 posts)gab13by13
(32,511 posts)That's how the UAE and Saudi Arabia paid him big money to invade Iran.
Krasnov wants to cut interest rates to crash the dollar, that's why he has been fighting with Jerome Powell.
I hope that Jerome stays on.
Raven123
(7,861 posts)Back to the complaint: Sun describes himself as someone who has long been (and remains) an ardent supporter of President Trump and the Trump family, and was approached to invest in WLF in 2024, saying that he invested $45 million at a pivotal time as WLF was launching, citing his reasons as not only because of the projects claims that it would promote adoption of decentralized financean issue Mr. Sun cares deeply about and to which he has devoted much of his lifes workbut also because of the Trump familys association with the project.
However, Sun soon soured on the investment, and the complaint accuses WLFs operators of using the project as a golden opportunity to leverage the Trump brand to profit through fraud,
Sounds like this guy is still a Trumper. Basically blaming people not named Trump. Seriously? No sympathy here.
SergeStorms
(20,701 posts)That everything Trump touches turns to shit. Some billionaires are just so stupid!
lastlib
(28,420 posts)If he's so rich, why isn't he smart?
Raven123
(7,861 posts)Smart people dont like me.
tanyev
(49,429 posts)BumRushDaShow
(170,872 posts)tanyev
(49,429 posts)One back channel is the fact that Kennedys son, Justin, knows Donald Trump Jr. through New York real estate circles. Another is through Kennedys other son, Gregory, and Trumps Silicon Valley adviser Peter Thiel. They went to Stanford Law School together and served as president of the Federalist Society in back-to-back years, according to school records. More recently, Kennedys firm, Disruptive Technology Advisers, has worked with Thiels company Palantir Technologies.
In fact, during the early months of the Trump administration, Gregory Kennedy has worked at NASA as a senior financial adviser as part of the so-called beachhead team. Both Kennedy boys were spotted at the White House last month for the administrations St. Patricks Day celebration (Justice Kennedy is Irish Catholic). In February, Ivanka Trump attended oral arguments of the Supreme Court with her daughter. She was a guest of Justice Kennedy.
https://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/donald-trump-supreme-court-236925
Scalia previously served as chief legal officer for the Labor Department during the George W. Bush administration, a position he took following a recess appointment by the former Republican president. He also worked as a special assistant to William Barr, now the attorney general, and was a speechwriter for Education Secretary William Bennett. Reached before the presidents Twitter announcement, Scalia declined to comment.
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/07/18/trump-scalia-nomination-labor-chief-1422418
Tyler McGaughey, who is married to Barrs youngest daughter, has duties in the new White House job that are unspecified, CNN reported. The counsels office advises the President, the Executive Office of the President, and the White House staff on legal issues pertaining to the President and the White House, the White House website says.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/william-barr-son-in-law-white-house_n_5c6bd826e4b0b9cc790012ce
Hugin
(37,920 posts)Wow
The family self dealing is astounding. All of the incompetence in all of the right chairs.
Is it too big to fail?
The turds falling close to the asshole......
Miguelito Loveless
(5,815 posts)Also, isn't fraud pretty much the de facto feature of crypto?
William Seger
(12,489 posts)Ditto for anyone who loses money "investing" in the online gambling game called crypto.
multigraincracker
(37,837 posts)Volaris
(11,752 posts)Anything to ruin trumps day works for me, but really lol?
FalloutShelter
(14,540 posts)Magic Beans Crimeing Currency is crashing!
Color me shocked.
Solly Mack
(97,086 posts)I trust I was sufficiently sympathetic.
niyad
(133,200 posts)both of us, as I have none.
Solly Mack
(97,086 posts)niyad
(133,200 posts)I needed that.
niyad
(133,200 posts)niyad
(133,200 posts)make more sense.
FakeNoose
(41,989 posts)He should have known better than to invest his "hard-earned" (cough-cough) cash in anything run by the Chump mob. This lawsuit will go nowhere, and Sun might as well sue the Irish Sweepstakes because his ticket didn't win.
niyad
(133,200 posts)niyad
(133,200 posts)Prof. Toru Tanaka
(2,942 posts)He reminds me of that odious little pharma bro Martin Shrkeli.
niyad
(133,200 posts)Joinfortmill
(21,388 posts)John1956PA
(5,031 posts)1. Trump's meme coin debuted on January 18, 2025, at a price of around fifty dollars per coin. It immediately shot up value, and then quickly descended. The insiders made billions. The fund charges a commission on all trades. Shortly after its debut, the price per coin had dropped to about ten dollars. It steadily declined after that. Today, the price is about three dollars per coin.
2. Trump's and his sons' World Liberty Financial debuted around August 25, 2025, at about thirty-five dollar per share. It steadily descended to under two dollars per share where it sits now.
3. Around September 2, 2025, Trump sons' American Bitcoin, Incorporated, debuted around fifteen dollars per share. That night, Eric bragged about his gain, which was over one billion dollars. Afterward, the price steading declined. It is now at about two dollars per share.
sarchasm
(1,315 posts)TFG doesnt think twice to sink his spawn right out of the gate, no doubt some kind of coming of age lesson. Theyll inherit his legacy for certain, and that will surely include massive debts after a restored SEC and DOJ gets its footing. All things we here at DU know all too well, but it feels good to say it again, and again.
ProudMNDemocrat
(20,959 posts)As well as the family businesses and BRAND NAME.
GOOD! Should have started sooner.
Bengus81
(10,254 posts)when he started buying Trumps BS crapto in 2025.
It's fucking FUN to watch con artists go after each other.
travelingthrulife
(5,376 posts)Vogon_Glory
(10,327 posts)Its nice to see Trump-supporting grifters and speculators lose money by putting it in Trump family schemes.
3825-87867
(1,984 posts)for pennies on the dollar to be paid by American Tax Payers or Saudis or Qataris or whomever and just long enough to keep the Epstein Files out of public view!
Maybe?
muriel_volestrangler
(106,389 posts)Seems to me he knew what he was buying, what the price was, and that the people he paid had a long track record of continuing to screw anyone they felt they had a hold over. From September 2025:
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/political-donors-should-not-be-above-law
Since the SEC brought the charges in 2023, I'm satisfied there was a real case to answer, and his bribe to the Trump family indicates he was pretty sure he'd be found guilty. He chose to get into the "corrupt for life" boat, and can't jump out of it now.
travelingthrulife
(5,376 posts)kimbutgar
(27,375 posts)had to declare bankruptcy and has had several failed business ventures!
A great example of FAFO !
Vinca
(54,159 posts)Karasu
(2,055 posts)they dont fucking like? That fraud?
Hmm. Funny. You dont say...
TexasBushwhacker
(21,248 posts)about his investments. Of course, billionaires can let their GREED for more cloud their judgement.