Justin Sun's Blacklisted Wallet Sparks Market Turmoil and Strategic Burn in WLFI Saga

World Liberty Financial (WLFI), the cryptocurrency protocol associated with former U.S. President Donald Trump, has blacklisted Tron founder and major investor Justin Sun’s blockchain address, preventing him from transferring 595 million unlocked WLFI tokens. These tokens are currently valued at approximately $107 million, according to data from Arkham Intelligence [1]. The blacklisting followed a series of outbound transactions, including one worth $9 million, which blockchain data indicates occurred on the Ethereum network [2]. In response, Sun stated that these transactions were part of "a few generic exchange deposit tests" and that they did not involve any buying or selling, thereby minimizing any potential market impact [1].

The move has drawn scrutiny from investors and analysts, with some interpreting it as an attempt to restrict certain users from selling tokens and influencing the market during the project's early trading phase [2]. Sun, who initially invested $30 million in the protocol in late 2024 and later increased his stake to $75 million by mid-2025, had publicly stated that he had "no plans to sell our unlocked tokens anytime soon" [1]. As of September 4, WLFI had declined 20% in the past 24 hours and was down 42% since its trading debut on September 1 [1].

To counter the falling value of WLFI, World Liberty Financial announced a token burn on September 2, during which 47 million tokens were permanently removed from circulation. The burn is part of a broader strategy to reduce supply and potentially increase the value of remaining tokens. According to CoinMarketCap, the total supply of WLFI is now at 99.95 billion, a reduction of 0.19% from the original 100 billion [4]. The project has also proposed a buyback and burn program funded by protocol fees, aiming to establish a deflationary mechanism that could enhance value for long-term holders [3].

The market response has been mixed. On September 5, WLFI saw a 9% price increase following the announcement of a new earning product by HTX, the exchange led by Sun. The product, WLFI Flexible Earn, offers a 20% annual percentage yield (APY), which contributed to a 10.04% rise in the token’s price to $0.2516 at press time, with trading volumes surging to $4.4 billion [3]. Despite these developments, WLFI remains among the most bearish tokens in terms of investor sentiment, reflecting ongoing concerns over price volatility and market confidence [2].

Industry experts have weighed in on the situation. Kevin Rusher, founder of RAAC, emphasized that the WLFI token’s performance underscores the need for institutional adoption to ensure long-term sustainability in the crypto space. Meanwhile, Mangirdas Ptašinskas of Galxe highlighted the technical challenges in preparing the ecosystem for mainstream adoption, noting that spikes in Ethereum gas fees during the token’s launch indicate further infrastructure work is required [4]. The outcome of these efforts and the broader market reception will likely play a critical role in determining WLFI’s trajectory in the coming months.

Source:

[1] World Liberty Financial Blacklists Justin Sun's Address ... (https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2025/09/04/world-liberty-financial-blacklists-justin-sun-s-address-with-usd107m-wlfi)

[2] Justin Sun's WLFI wallet blacklisted after $9M token transfer (https://cointelegraph.com/news/justin-sun-wlfi-address-blacklisted)

[3] WLFI Price Jumps 9% as Justin Sun's HTX Exchange ... (https://finance.yahoo.com/news/wlfi-price-jumps-9-justin-123856694.html)

[4] World Liberty Burns 47M Tokens as WLFI Price Slides (https://cointelegraph.com/news/wlfi-token-burn-price-drop-world-liberty-financial)