Donald Trump’s venture into the crypto world with World Liberty Financial (WLFI) has generated significant interest, with over 100,000 signups ahead of the token launch on October 15. WLFI positions itself as a decentralized finance (DeFi) initiative and will release its governance token, WLFI, based on the Ethereum blockchain. This token will enable users to access various DeFi functionalities, including borrowing, lending, and stablecoin transactions.
During an X Space event on October 14, Zak Folkman, the head of operations at WLFI, provided details about the upcoming token launch. He emphasized that WLFI will serve as the governance token for the World Liberty Financial ecosystem. Folkman was joined by team members Chase Herro and Zach Witkoff, who reiterated information from a previous blog post.
World Liberty Financial aims to offer users the ability to interact with liquidity pools and engage in crypto-based lending and borrowing. However, access to the platform’s services in the U.S. will be limited to accredited investors who meet specific financial criteria set by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
During the X Space event, Folkman also announced that Rich Teo, co-founder of Paxos, will lead the stablecoin and payments division of WLFI. Teo’s expertise in blockchain technology will be valuable for the project.
The tokenomics of the WLFI token reveal that 63% of the tokens will be sold to whitelisted members of the public during the October 15 launch. Additionally, 17% will be allocated for user rewards, and 20% will go to the project’s team. The tokens will be nontransferable for the first 12 months, but holders will be able to use them immediately for governance voting on the platform.
The project aims to raise $300 million through the token sale, with a projected valuation of approximately $1.5 billion, according to a leaked white paper.
While the primary focus of World Liberty Financial will be DeFi lending, there are plans to expand to the Ethereum layer-2 network Scroll. The initial launch will take place on Aave, a leading decentralized lending protocol. Stani Kulechov, CEO of Aave, expressed excitement about World Liberty Financial’s use of Aave for its borrowing and lending features.
During the X Space event, Donald Trump Jr., the project’s “Web3 Ambassador,” praised the platform as a step toward financial inclusivity and criticized the U.S. banking system, referring to it as a “Ponzi scheme.”
A recent survey conducted by Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Poll found that crypto owners are more likely to support former President Donald Trump, while those without digital assets lean towards Vice President Kamala Harris. This aligns with Trump’s recent advocacy for digital currencies.