A significant legal battle is intensifying between prominent crypto investor Justin Sun and the DeFi project World Liberty Financial. The dispute has taken a new turn as World Liberty Financial has launched a countersuit against Sun, alleging he engaged in a smear campaign with “demonstrably false” claims regarding their WLFI token.
Key Takeaways
- Justin Sun initially sued World Liberty Financial, accusing them of extortion and freezing his tokens.
- World Liberty Financial claims Sun initiated a “scorched-earth” social media campaign after his tokens were frozen.
- The project asserts Sun used bots and influencers to pressure them and allegedly shorted WLFI to drive down its price.
- World Liberty Financial states Sun’s claims about token freezes were false and disclosed in their terms of sale.
- The legal conflict highlights the high stakes and volatile nature of disputes within the cryptocurrency space.
The Genesis of the Conflict
The controversy began in mid-April when Justin Sun publicly criticized World Liberty Financial’s WLFI token, citing a “backdoor blacklisting function” that allegedly granted the issuer unilateral power to freeze, restrict, or confiscate token holder property without notice or recourse. Sun followed this accusation with a lawsuit, alleging extortion and that World Liberty Financial wrongfully froze his tokens, preventing him from participating in governance and threatening to burn his holdings.
World Liberty Financial’s Response
In a sharp rebuttal, World Liberty Financial has now filed a defamation countersuit. The Trump-backed crypto project contends that Sun orchestrated a widespread social media offensive after his tokens were unfrozen. They allege that Sun employed bots, influencers, and public attacks in an attempt to force the team to unlock his funds. Furthermore, World Liberty Financial claims Sun actively opened short positions against WLFI as part of a deliberate “defamatory smear campaign” aimed at tanking the token’s price, quoting Sun as saying he wanted to drive WLFI “to shit.”
Today, we are filing a lawsuit against Justin Sun for defamation. Sun has launched a coordinated media smear campaign against World Liberty Financial and refused to stop even when confronted with the truth.
Here’s the story.🧵
World Liberty Financial asserts that Sun’s accusations are verifiably untrue, stating that the freeze function he decried was clearly outlined in their Terms of Sale and acknowledged in Sun’s own agreements.
Original article : www.bankless.com