A California federal judge has ruled that Justin Sun's individual claims against World Liberty Financial will stay in open court, rejecting the Trump-linked project's attempt to force the legal dispute into private arbitration and seal the proceedings.
Sun announced the decision in a social media post following a court appearance in San Francisco by his legal counsel. According to Sun, the judge also declined to order all company-related claims into arbitration, instructing the involved parties to meet and confer to determine which claims remain in court and which proceed to arbitration.
The ongoing legal battle originated in April when Sun filed a lawsuit alleging that World Liberty froze his WLFI tokens, stripped away his governance rights, and threatened to burn the tokens. He is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.
In his recent statements, Sun also raised concerns regarding the design of World Liberty's USD1 stablecoin, claiming it contains freeze-and-burn capabilities similar to those he encountered with WLFI. Furthermore, he questioned the project's financial backing, alleging that the stablecoin's market capitalization stems from user collateral rather than liquid capital capable of satisfying a major court judgment.
The broader dispute encompasses governance disagreements involving tens of billions of WLFI tokens and vesting terms. While World Liberty previously filed a defamation lawsuit against Sun in Florida, Sun dismissed that filing as a meritless PR stunt as the legal proceedings continue.
