zach witkoff’s World Liberty Financial could not move all of Justin Sun’s claims into private arbitration on August 20. Judge James Donato left Sun’s personal claims in federal court in California, keeping the dispute public for now.
Justin Sun and WLFI
Sun brought the case before a federal court in San Francisco in April. He said his personal claims would remain publicly reviewed before the federal court, and he has said he bought $45 million worth of WLFI tokens.
The dispute centers on frozen tokens and control powers World Liberty would have integrated into the WLFI contract. That puts the fight over token control, not just money, in the middle of the case.
Arbitration moved, court stayed open
On June 2, World Liberty Financial asked Donato to force the plaintiffs into arbitration and suspend the judicial procedure. The hearing on that request took place on August 20, and the judge refused to send all of Sun’s claims away from the public docket.
Blue Anthem Limited and Black Anthem Limited are also parties to the complaint. Their claims sit beside Sun’s, which means the order does not end the broader lawsuit even if some disputes still move on separate tracks.
OCC and World Liberty Trust Company
The ruling came days after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted World Liberty Trust Company a preliminary conditional approval on August 14. The bank is meant to issue and redeem USD1 and manage its reserves, but it cannot start operations yet.
Its final authorization depends on meeting OCC conditions, including $20 million in Tier 1 capital and enough liquid assets to cover 180 days of operating expenses. The OCC can also modify, suspend, or withdraw the approval before the bank opens, so the path to launch still runs through the regulator rather than the market.
The unresolved point now is the exact written order from Judge James Donato on the arbitration request. That order will show whether any part of the complaint still moves out of public court.
