During a lengthy live event on X, Trump and his collaborators, including Eric and Barron Trump and founders Zac Folkman and Chase Herro, revealed new information about their new crypto venture. World Liberty Financial will launch a new governance token called WLFI, which will be released under an SEC Regulation D exemption.
To meet the rules of this regulation, the token will only be available to accredited investors in the U.S. through its regulated Know Your Customer (KYC) process. This limitation prevents access to the token for the wider public for now and instead ring-fences it off for high-net-worth individuals and institutions.
Folkman promised to allocate 63% of its WLFI tokens for public sale, while 20% will be held back for insiders, including the Trump family and the platform’s founding members. 17% will reward user engagement, details of which are unclear at present.
The team didn’t offer a launch date for the token, but speculation is rife that it will happen before the November election.
The token is part of Trump's new-found desire to decentralize the financial system and offer alternative investment opportunities to the traditional big banks. Trump has often spoken about the need to “empower American financial independence” or "make finance great again," and World Liberty Financial seems to be an extension of that vision, offering a solution that taps into that rising distrust of traditional banking systems.
"Crypto's one of those things we have to do, whether we like it or not," Trump said during the forty-minute-long opening interview on X. This was Trump's first appearance since the assassination attempt at his golf course on Sunday.
Donald Trump was once a vocal critic of cryptocurrency, but his stance changed significantly during his latest Presidential bid. Now, he is a strong advocate, even speaking at major industry events and receiving donations from prominent cryptocurrency executives.
During the live event, he pointed to his son Barron's enthusiasm for crypto as one of the catalysts for his change of heart. Barron Trump, along with several others, is listed in a leaked white paper as the Chief DeFi Visionary. "Barron is a young guy... He has four wallets or something. He gets it," Trump explained.
World Liberty Financial has already attracted several scams, including fake websites and the recent hacking of several of Trump's family accounts to promote a scam coin. For now, only the WLFI telegram and X channels are releasing any official information.
Early reviews of the announcement have been mixed. Supporters, particularly within Trump's political base, see the token as an exciting next step into decentralized finance (DeFi) and a potential disruptor in the cryptocurrency market.
However, critics and industry experts are cautious, highlighting concerns about conflicts of interest and potential risk. Additionally, the limitation of WLFI to accredited investors has raised concerns about the project’s accessibility and whether it will gain widespread adoption.
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