Chinese crypto billionaire Justin Sun poured nearly $200m into Donald Trump's digital asset ventures, then watched the relationship collapse into dueling lawsuits after World Liberty Financial froze his tokens. Of the $2.2bn Trump earned last year, at least $1.4bn came from crypto — and much of it traces back to Sun's cash.
Of the $2.2bn Donald Trump made last year, at least $1.4bn came from his crypto businesses. He built that fortune without any prior background in crypto, and many trace the answer to one man: Chinese crypto billionaire Justin Sun invested nearly $200m of his own money into the Trump family's digital asset ventures. That partnership has since curdled into competing court cases.
How Sun bankrolled World Liberty Financial
Trump's family launched World Liberty Financial in September 2024, and Trump stepped down from the company once he took office, though his family trust still owns and profits from it. The venture sells a "governance token", $WLFI, but 75% of all profits from token sales go straight to the Trump family trust.
At first the token struggled. The founders cut their fundraising target from $300m to $30m. Then Sun stepped in, buying $75m worth of $WLFI tokens shortly after Trump was elected. His crypto pedigree lent the project legitimacy, and it soon generated $550m in token sales. He also bought more than $100m worth of Trump's memecoin, $Trump, and launched it on his Tron platform.
A paused SEC case
Sun's investment arrived while he faced regulatory pressure. In March 2023, the SEC under the Biden administration alleged Sun ran more than 600,000 fake trades to inflate TRX trading volume, and that he pocketed $31m from unregistered sales. A couple of months after he invested $75m into $WLFI, Sun and the SEC jointly filed a motion to stay the case.
In March of this year, the court dismissed all allegations with prejudice, meaning they cannot be refiled. The case ultimately settled in exchange for a $10m penalty paid by Rainberry Inc. Both the Trumps and Sun have denied any connection between the paused investigation and the investment.
The falling out
The alliance fractured in August 2025. Admins quietly upgraded the token's code to let designated wallets freeze any holder's funds, then unlocked 20% of the tokens for sale, making the Trumps an estimated $5bn. Sun said his own tokens were frozen, and by December 2025 his position had lost an estimated $60m in value.
Sun sued World Liberty Financial on 21 April in California federal court over what he called a "backdoor blacklisting function". World Liberty countersued him in Florida on 4 May, accusing him of shorting the project and defaming the company. Both cases remain unresolved, with neither side's allegations yet tested in court.
Source: The Guardian
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