Justin Sun and World Liberty Financial (WLFI) are offering sharply different accounts of a California federal court hearing over arbitration, with both sides claiming the proceeding supported their position. Court documents from the hearing had not yet been published online at the time of reporting.
The hearing stems from Sun’s April lawsuit
The dispute goes back to a lawsuit Sun filed in April. In that case, he accused WLFI of fraud and breach of contract after the company froze his tokens using what he said were undisclosed blacklisting powers.
Sun called the hearing a major win
In a post on X, Sun said a judge ruled that his case and his “individual claims” would go to court. He described that outcome as a “major victory.”
Sun said the judge “rejected World Liberty’s argument that all of the company-related claims should be arbitrated, and has ordered the parties to meet and confer about which of those claims should remain in court and which should go to arbitration.”
He also said WLFI had tried to force the dispute into “secret arbitration proceedings” and to seal documents from public view.
Sun wrote: 「Today, my counsel appeared in California federal court to oppose World Liberty Financial's @worldlibertyfi efforts to force our dispute into secret arbitration proceedings and seal documents from public view. We argued forcefully that this case belongs in open court—and the…」
Witkoff said Sun’s account was false
Hours later, WLFI CEO Zach Witkoff pushed back. He said WLFI never sought to send Sun’s individual claims to arbitration and instead wanted those claims dismissed in full.
According to Witkoff, the court has not yet ruled on the outcome of those claims. That directly contradicts Sun’s description of the hearing. Witkoff said Sun’s post was “riddled with falsehoods.”
Witkoff wrote on X: 「Sun’s X post regarding today’s hearing on World Liberty’s Motion to Compel Arbitration is riddled with falsehoods. The Court did not make any rulings but agreed with World Liberty that many claims brought by Sun’s companies must go to arbitration—and even Sun’s lawyers had to…」
He also said the court sided with WLFI in agreeing that many of Sun’s other claims must go to arbitration. In his words, “Even Sun’s lawyers had to concede in the courtroom that these claims do not belong in court.”
Separate Florida case also raised by Witkoff
Witkoff further alleged that Sun is “actively avoiding” legal proceedings in a separate lawsuit that WLFI filed against him in Florida.
No additional procedural details about that Florida case were provided in the input.
No court filing online yet
As of now, documents reflecting the outcome of the previous day’s hearing have not been posted online. It is also unclear when the parties will next meet to discuss the arbitration motion.
Sun questioned WLFI’s ability to pay damages
Sun also argued that WLFI likely could not afford the hundreds of millions of dollars in damages if it were to lose the lawsuit.
He pointed to WLFI’s deposit of almost 5 billion WLFI tokens with Dolomite and to legal proceedings tied to Dough Finance litigation. Sun said those matters raise doubts about whether WLFI has “enough money to satisfy a judgment, repay their debts, or make investors whole if there is a run on the bank.”
For now, the public dispute centers on two incompatible claims: Sun says the judge made a favorable procedural decision, while Witkoff says no such ruling was issued and that multiple claims belong in arbitration. Until the court record becomes available, the public account remains largely limited to what both sides said on X.