Justin Sun, the largest investor in World Liberty Financial, described on Wednesday the plan to lock 62.3 billion WLFI tokens for an additional four years as a governance scam. This move, initially reported by Cointelegraph, follows the proposal to unlock tokens to activate market liquidity which seeks to restructure how early investors access their capital.
The proposal states that initial investors will face an extended two-year lock-up period followed by partial distributions over an additional two years. This scheme has generated significant friction because those holders who do not accept the new terms will see their assets frozen indefinitely.
From a market perspective, this maneuver seems to align economic incentives with the duration of the term of Donald Trump, which undermines the decentralized nature of DeFi protocols. In standard governance models, changes to vesting are usually optional or compensated, but here the penalty for dissent is the total loss of liquidity.
Justin Sun, who holds a 4% stake in the platform that is currently frozen, denounced what he considers a blatant coercion tactic. The entrepreneur argued that many large holders are being excluded from the voting process because their own assets are currently immobilized.
This Is World Tyranny, Not World Liberty Financial — Here's Why
This proposal has been packaged as a "governance alignment signal" and a "long-term commitment," but strip away the packaging and what you have is one of the most absurd governance scams I have ever seen. Let me… https://t.co/sJhFMnLWsJ
— H.E. Justin Sun 👨‍🚀 🌞 (@justinsuntron) April 15, 2026
This technical exclusion prevents critics of the measure from exercising their governance rights to stop the change. The situation sets a dangerous precedent where protocol management can alter ownership rules unilaterally without offering a fair exit to its participants.
Governance strategy under fire due to long-term liquidity restrictions
The discontent is not limited to Sun. Simon Dedic, founder of the venture capital firm Moonrock Capital, went further by stating that investors who expected solid profits have just been rugged through this resolution. According to Simon Dedic, the platform is trying to “squeeze the same lemon” that it has been inflating with hot air for the past two years.
All the $WLFI early investors who thought they were sitting on solid profits just got rugged, by the Trump family themselves.
This essentially gives them another shot at squeezing the same lemon they’ve been inflating with hot air for the past two years. Which, what a surprise,… https://t.co/yLSNcfeZlm
— Simon Dedic (@sjdedic) April 15, 2026
The comparison with previous episodes of systemic collapses in the sector highlights the fragility of trust in projects with high political weight and low operational transparency.
The price performance of the WLFI tokens reflects this internal and external trust crisis in an immediate manner. The asset is currently trading at 8 cents, representing a 75% drop from its all-time high of 33 cents reached on September 1. So far in 2026 alone, the value has retreated by 40%, moving in tandem with a broader correction in global markets. This massive depreciation, added to the impossibility of selling due to the lock-up, leaves users trapped in a capital loss position that cannot be actively managed.
David Wachsman, a spokesperson for World Liberty Financial, defended the measure by arguing that it seeks to align participants for the long run. However, the community watches with skepticism as the rules of the game are modified while trading volume continues to disappear in the secondary market today.
Official voting on this proposal will begin in the coming hours and will run for a full week. The result will determine if the protocol manages to stabilize its structure or if the exodus of figures like Sun marks the beginning of an irreversible decline for the platform linked to the Trump family.
This article is for informational purposes and does not constitute financial advice.
