Justin Sun Faces $60 Million Loss in Trump Family Project

Charles Hoskinson criticized the US president's approach to digital assets.

Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, remains blacklisted by the DeFi project World Liberty Financial. Since September, the value of his frozen WLFI tokens has plummeted by $60 million, according to analysts at Bubblemaps. 

Justin Sun is still blacklisted by WLFI

in 3 months, his locked tokens dropped $60m in value

absolutely brutal https://t.co/3Af2px04h5 pic.twitter.com/4qxuiE4qwJ

— Bubblemaps (@bubblemaps) December 22, 2025

The platform blocked the entrepreneur’s address after he transferred 50 million WLFI (approximately $9 million at the time) to the HTX exchange. He explained that he was conducting “routine deposit tests” with small amounts and had no intention of selling the tokens. 

Sun’s “punishment” came as a surprise—he had been an active supporter of the platform linked to the US President Donald Trump’s family and other related projects. The Tron founder had pledged to purchase the meme coin TRUMP for $100 million and invested $75 million in WLFI, becoming the largest token holder. 

He also attended Trump’s gala dinner, where the president presented him with a personalized watch. 

“I contributed not only capital but also my trust and support for the future of this project. My goal has always been to grow with the team and community and jointly build a strong and healthy WLF ecosystem. However, during operations, my tokens were unjustifiably frozen,” Sun wrote in the autumn. 

Trading of the WLFI token began on September 1. Since then, its price has dropped by more than 40%. At its peak, the price was $0.24 with a market capitalization of $6.6 billion. At the time of writing, these figures stand at $0.13 and $3.6 billion. 

Hoskinson on Trump 

Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, criticized Trump’s approach to digital assets in an interview with Decrypt, calling the president’s initiatives “disappointing.” 

The expert believes the politician has jeopardized the integrity of the entire industry in the US. The market was expected to reach a turning point with the adoption of the Clarity Act. However, the launch of Trump’s meme coin negatively affected public perception of cryptocurrencies. 

“When the ‘Trump coin’ appeared, everything shifted from ‘cryptocurrency outside politics’ to the formula ‘cryptocurrency = Trump = bad = corruption’,” Hoskinson stated. 

This initiative politically “tied the hands” of the Democrats. Supporting the Clarity Act is now seen as indirect endorsement of the US president himself. As a result, what could have been a bipartisan compromise has turned into a bargaining chip and a kind of weapon for the upcoming midterm elections.  

According to the Cardano founder, other industry representatives share similar views but are afraid to speak out. 

“We were warned: ‘Keep your mouth shut. Any word you say could close all doors for you. You will lose the opportunity to meet with the president, be excluded from the legislative process, and any other significant work.’ It was an unspoken but widely accepted rule,” he explained. 

Hoskinson emphasized that Trump’s involvement blurred the line between politics and personal interest, weakening the market’s position in Washington at the most crucial moment—when lawmakers were seriously discussing digital asset regulation. 

“[Trump] simply triggered a massive market disruption and will likely receive a subpoena when the Democrats return to power. […] As a private individual, he has every right to do such things, but he must understand that he is inseparable from the perception of the decisions he makes,” he said.

Back in November, the Cardano founder had already criticized the US president’s influence on the crypto market. At that time, he stated that the Trump administration had been “somewhat useless” for the industry.