Donald Trump, the former President of the United States, has officially launched his much-anticipated cryptocurrency project called World Liberty Financial. The project aims to provide borrowing and lending services for cryptocurrencies on the Ethereum blockchain network, similar to decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. The team behind World Liberty Financial revealed previously unconfirmed details during a live interview with Decrypt.
One unique aspect of Trump’s crypto project is its focus on being user-friendly and accessible to all, in contrast to the highly technical nature of existing alternatives. The project will introduce a non-transferable governance token called World Liberty Financial (WLFI) to support its operations.
The World Liberty Financial team, led by operations lead Zak Folkman and data and strategy head Chase Herro, has disclosed new information about the distribution plan for the WLFI token. They emphasized that the token sale will be regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), ensuring compliance with securities laws.
Folkman stated during the interview that there have been no pre-sales or early buy-ins, making the token distribution fair and in line with other DeFi projects. The majority of the token’s supply, 62.66%, will be available in a forthcoming token sale. The net proceeds from this sale will contribute to the project’s multi-signature wallet treasury reserve, while a portion will be paid to the founders, team, and service providers.
Approximately 17.33% of the token supply will be allocated for incentivizing the governance participation and community growth of World Liberty. The remaining 20% will be reserved for the project’s team, advisors, and future hires. Additionally, undisclosed portions of WLFI will be allocated to the WLF Foundation, affiliates of the Trump Organization, and the Witkoff Group, which is associated with Trump ally Steve Witkoff.
It is worth noting that previous reports about World Liberty Financial’s token supply distribution were deemed inaccurate. However, Decrypt reviewed an updated draft of the white paper that aligns with previous reports, but with significant changes in token allocations.
In an effort to address concerns about regulatory uncertainty in the DeFi sector, the World Liberty Financial team confirmed that the sale of WLFI will be regulated by the SEC. All purchasers of WLFI will undergo “know your customer” (KYC) checks, similar to the procedures followed by American crypto exchanges like Coinbase and Kraken.
Despite WLFI tokens not being classified as securities, they will be offered through Rule 506(c) of the SEC’s Regulation D, allowing the sale of unregistered securities to accredited investors in the United States.
While the project’s finer details are subject to change, it is clear that Donald Trump’s World Liberty Financial intends to provide a more user-friendly approach to decentralized finance while adhering to regulatory guidelines outlined by the SEC.