- Trump fans purchased $550 million of WLFI tokens.
- They’re nonetheless unable to commerce nearly all of them.
- The mission’s creators maintain the only real energy to determine who can promote and when.
When Trump fans snapped up $550 million value of WLFI, the token tied to the Trump family’s World Liberty Monetary crypto mission, they thought they have been getting the deal of the century.
Tokens purchased for between $0.015 and $0.05 between October 2024 and January 2025 soared to an all-time excessive of $0.33 once they started trading final September, turning modest purchases into small fortunes in a single day — at the least on paper.
However there was only one catch.
World Liberty Monetary’s creators, which embrace US President Donald Trump and his sons Eric, Donald Jr., and Barron, granted themselves the only real energy to determine who can promote and when.
The mission has to this point launched 20% of the tokens and has promised a vote amongst holders on when the remainder shall be made obtainable for buying and selling.
However months have handed, and that vote hasn’t materialised.
Now, dozens of token holders are taking to the World Liberty Monetary discussion board, begging the protocol’s creators to allow them to money out as they watch WLFI’s worth evaporate.
The token has fallen some 54% over the previous 5 months.
“Almost 80% of WLFI presale tokens are nonetheless locked after virtually two years,” said one WLFI holder. “We held by volatility and silence as a result of we believed. However at what level does endurance flip into neglect?”
“They’re my investments and I would like to have entry to them,” said one other. “We have now change into hostages.”
The pleas have to this point been ignored.
So as to add to their holders’ woes, World Liberty’s creators pushed through a proposal to distribute WLFI as incentives to encourage extra individuals to use the protocol, doubtlessly placing extra strain on the token’s value.
A World Liberty Monetary spokesperson instructed DL News the mission’s group is in frequent and common contact with its world neighborhood.
No ensures
The state of affairs surrounding the WLFI token echoes that of dozens of different crypto tasks.
The business, which remains to be largely unregulated, has change into a playground for fly-by-night crypto peddlers who promise massive, increase tens of millions of {dollars}, then go away those that purchased in out to dry.
Threat-tolerant crypto buyers, typically lured in by the promise of giant returns, pile into such tasks with out absolutely understanding what they’re moving into.
It’s a sport World Liberty Monetary’s co-founders appear to perceive nicely.
Amongst them is Chase Herro, a former “get-rich-quick” class teacher who has referred to himself because the “dirtbag of the web.”
In a since-deleted YouTube video, Herro mentioned: “You may actually promote shit in a can, wrapped in piss, lined in human pores and skin, for a billion {dollars} if the story’s proper, as a result of individuals will purchase it.”
When Herro based World Liberty Monetary in 2024 together with an all-star solid of Trump allies — together with US Particular Envoy to the Center East Steve Witkoff and his sons, Zach and Alex, and long-time enterprise associate Zachary Folkman — they made no guarantees.
Buried within the protocol’s so-called gold paper, basically a long-form advertising and marketing pitch, are vital particulars about how the mission is ready up.
The World Liberty Monetary protocol shouldn’t be immediately managed by WLFI token holders. This has doubtlessly confused token consumers, as different protocols which subject governance tokens do give holders management over the protocol.
The impression is that whereas token holders can create and suggest adjustments, the protocol’s co-founders display proposals earlier than voting and reserve the appropriate to block them at their sole discretion.
Moreover, WLFI tokens present no proper to any return, dividend, airdrop or different distribution from the protocol, and there’s no assure that tokens past the preliminary 20% will ever be made tradable.
This example leaves sad consumers little or no recourse.
Even World Liberty Monetary’s most high-profile backer, Tron founder Justin Solar, seems to have been shafted.
He purchased $75 million value of WLFI within the mission’s token sale. When a portion of that stash was made tradable in September, Solar transferred round $9 million value to one other crypto pockets.
In response, World Liberty’s creators froze the tokens, stopping Solar from promoting them.
Solar vowed to purchase extra WLFI tokens after the incident, which appeared to be a gesture of appeasement towards the protocol’s creators.
His tokens stay frozen and have since plummeted in worth.
Democratising finance?
To make sure, not all WLFI holders have purchaser’s regret.
“Most individuals don’t perceive what WLFI will change into sooner or later,” said one token holder on the World Liberty governance discussion board.
“There shall be a switch of wealth which is able to make you wealthy thanks to the blocking of the 80% however you don’t see it but, it’s a disgrace.”
But even amongst those that nonetheless help World Liberty, there’s a pervasive sense that progress on the protocol, whose token is valued at greater than $4 billion, is slower than many had hoped.
The mission guarantees in its gold paper to democratise finance and entry to monetary alternatives.
But to this point, the merchandise World Liberty has launched have solely enriched its co-founders and accomplished little to profit token holders.
Its most profitable product is the USD1 stablecoin, a competitor to different dollar-pegged belongings like Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC.
There are at present greater than $5 billion USD1 tokens in circulation, making it the fifth-largest stablecoin.
It’s not clear how a lot cash World Liberty makes from USD1. However based mostly on how a lot Tether makes running an identical product, USD1 seemingly brings in a number of hundred million {dollars} a 12 months.
Per World Liberty’s gold paper, 100% of those income, plus another income the protocol generates, go straight into the pockets of the Trump household and the Witkoffs, minus $15 million put aside for the protocol’s working bills.
Allegations mount
All of the whereas, scrutiny over Trump’s crypto dealings is mounting.
For the president’s political opponents, the difficulty has change into a sticking level in passing the Readability Act, a broad crypto market-structure invoice poised to give the business a much-needed increase.
Democrats say they’ll’t help the invoice as a result of it permits Trump to proceed profiting off crypto.
“The White Home has made this infinitely more durable,” New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, the invoice’s lead Democrat negotiator, said on Thursday.
“I’ve had non-public conversations with Republican colleagues and staffers that agree with me. … The truth that Donald Trump is grifting on crypto himself, it’s like me making a Cory coin,” he added, calling it “ridiculous.”
It’s not a optimistic growth for WLFI token holders caught up within the drama.
On the identical time, World Liberty has introduced it’s going to maintain an in-person discussion board for the mission on February 18 at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s non-public luxurious membership in Palm Seaside, Florida.
The invite-only occasion will “deliver collectively a choose group of the neatest individuals we all know and respect from finance and know-how,” Donald Trump Jr said in a video message posted on the World Liberty X account.
Whether or not this may embrace anybody that represents the pursuits of WLFI token holders stays to be seen.
Replace, January 30: Added a remark from a World Liberty Monetary spokesperson.
Tim Craig is DL News’ Edinburgh-based DeFi Correspondent. Attain out with ideas at tim@dlnews.com.
