Former President Donald Trump foray into decentralized finance (DeFi) with his initiative, World Liberty Financial, has officially begun onboarding users, with a public sale of its WLFI token scheduled for October 15.
This announcement comes as the project aims to raise $300 million at a valuation of $1.5 billion through its initial token offering, which garnered significant attention in the cryptocurrency community.
The Trump DeFi Initiative
In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), World Liberty Financial announced that the public sale will be open to individuals who qualify through a whitelist process. The governance token, WLFI, will have a non-transferable status for the first 12 months, although it will allow holders to participate in voting on platform decisions immediately.
The initial phase of the project includes launching a DeFi lending platform, modeled after Aave, on Scroll, an Ethereum Layer 2 solution. It will initially support Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins, with future plans to introduce a stablecoin-focused credit card, facilitate integration with exchanges for seamless asset transfers, and fractionalize real-world assets like hotels and clubs.
World Liberty Financial is presented as a key component of Trump’s vision to “Make America great again, this time with crypto.” The initiative aims to position the US as the leading global hub for cryptocurrency, enhancing financial security and enabling peer-to-peer transactions without intermediaries through decentralized finance.
However, specific functionalities and a definitive launch date for the platform have yet to be announced.
Interestingly, a preliminary white paper for the project includes a disclaimer stating that World Liberty Financial is “not owned, managed, operated or sold” by the Trump family, although it notes that they may receive compensation from the initiative. This disclaimer aims to clarify the project’s structure amidst ongoing scrutiny.
Political Polarization Ahead?
The launch of World Liberty Financial has raised expectations among investors, but it has also raised eyebrows within the cryptocurrency community, particularly within industry leaders such as Charles Hoskinson, co-founder of the Ethereum and Cardano blockchains.
Hoskinson has expressed concerns that Trump’s DeFi venture could become a “political flashpoint,” exacerbating existing tensions surrounding cryptocurrency regulation in the US under Biden’s administration.
Hoskinson also warned that the political polarization surrounding Trump could provoke a backlash from Democrats that could threaten the viability of the initiative.
The Cardano founder indicated that if Democrats perceive Trump’s DeFi project as a significant threat, they might leverage governmental power to impose restrictions, potentially driving many crypto projects offshore to jurisdictions with more favorable regulations.
Despite his concerns, Hoskinson acknowledged that it has attracted influential investors and advocates. However, he remains skeptical about whether this support will translate into effective policy changes should Trump regain power.
Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com