World Liberty Financial (CRYPTO: WLFI) has drawn new ire from Democratic lawmakers as the token plunged over 15% after a controversial governance vote.

The Southeast Asian Syndicate Connection

The Wall Street Journal recently linked WLFI to a Southeast Asian criminal syndicate. Last year, WLFI partnered with crypto firm AB, which was overseeing a blockchain-themed resort in East Timor led by two sanctioned men.

The resort’s controlling shareholder Yang Jian and General Manager Yang Yanming were sanctioned by the U.S. last October as part of a crackdown on the billion-dollar overseas crypto scam industry and the Prince Group conglomerate.

WLFI told The Wall Street Journal that it never held a relationship with the pair nor knew about the resort. 

Additionally, the company downplayed the partnership to a “limited non-exclusive technology integration” and claimed its due diligence was proportional to its arrangement.

Warren Calls For Legislation

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) responded that Congress needs to ensure digital asset legislation protects national security as the Trump family puts themselves first.

“WLFI, the Trump family crypto company, reportedly partnered with a crypto venture tied to the same people recently sanctioned for scamming Americans,” Warren posted.

The Vote That Passed In 15 Minutes

The vote passed with 6.6 billion WLFI tokens in favor versus just 3.3 million tokens against.

The largest four Yes voters together held 2.5 billion WLFI tokens, almost 40% of the entire vote.

By the 15-minute mark, the proposal had achieved 1.5 billion votes and passed with a 148% quorum, beating its May 6 deadline. The vote surpassed the required threshold by 657%.

The proposal locks 17 billion early supporter WLFI tokens from being tradeable for another two years. After that, a two-year linear vest will gradually unlock tokens for the market, meaning some early investors wait four years total to access their holdings.

The Coercion Mechanics

WLFI stated that token holders who vote against the proposal will remain locked indefinitely and can only participate in governance votes. This effectively coerced Yes votes by threatening permanent lockups.

Crypto trader White Whale summarized the proposal: “Agree with our absurd plan or lose your tokens forever.”

Moreover, users across X and the WLFI forum called the project a “scammer” and mocked the suggestion of “community governance.” Some implied the vote wasn’t democratic and was already predetermined.

Justin Sun Is Suing

One of WLFI’s biggest former supporters, Tron (CRYPTO: TRX) CEO Justin Sun, is now suing the firm over its blacklisting of his tokens.

“This proposal is bad for the community, but because World Liberty has frozen my early investor tokens, I cannot vote them for or against the proposal,” Sun stated earlier this month.

The crypto billionaire wants WLFI to stop blacklisting his tokens and fears the project will burn them.

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