The Trump family’s World Liberty Financial project raises questions about its actual purpose and true ambitions. Could it simply be a massive machine designed to extract value for its leaders, at the expense of WLFI holders?
World Liberty Financial: A Value-Extraction Machine for Its Leaders?
The World Liberty Financial project was launched in September 2024 by the Trump family, even as the current U.S. president was still campaigning. A protocol within decentralized finance (DeFi) whose actual utility quickly proved difficult to determine—at least far more so than its obvious intent to massively sell its native WLFI tokens.
An initial sale that struggled to attract investors at first, but ultimately achieved significant success during Donald Trump’s official inauguration at the White House in January 2025, alongside the surreal launch of the presidential memecoins TRUMP and MELANIA.
Since its launch, the price of WLFI has been hovering around $0.15, while posting a decline of nearly 30% over this period. At the same time, the vast majority of its holders “are facing a lock-up and have not had access to their tokens since the TGE (initial token distribution), with no ability to vote for an unlock until the team authorizes it.”
The price of WLFI has fallen 30% since its launch
This reality was once again brought to light by a DeFi-specialized trader, going by the pseudonym DeFi^2 on the X network, in a post where he sought to “draw attention to a concerning governance vote organized by World Liberty Financial this month, which appears to mark the beginning of a gradual extraction of value led by the team at the expense of WLFI holders.”
The executives (of World Liberty Financial) have submitted a USD1 growth proposal that, at first glance, seems rather innocuous. But it raises a question: why would they do everything in their power to push this vote through, instead of supporting the unlocking of the WLFI token demanded by the majority of its holders?
DeFi^2
“It is becoming difficult to perceive the intrinsic value of the WLFI token”
Because one thing must be acknowledged: the World Liberty Financial project has at least one practical use—supporting the development of its USD1 stablecoin. This initiative fully benefits from the partnerships and political alliances established by Donald Trump, as seen in the recent case of its strategic adoption by Pakistan.
This motivation is all the more significant given that “75% of the protocol’s revenue goes to the Trump family, and 25% to the Witkoff family,” while “WLFI holders are entitled to ZERO revenue from the protocol.” This is enough to push World Liberty Financial’s leaders and their partners to force the adoption of this proposal regarding the USD1 stablecoin, despite the initial opposition expressed by its community.
Details from the World Liberty Financial white paper
The logic seems undeniable: “Leaders are forcing a vote to sell WLFI tokens at the expense of locked token holders, in order to finance the protocol’s revenue that directly belongs to them.” And the final word goes to DeFi^2:
It is becoming difficult to perceive the intrinsic value of the WLFI token, valued at $17 billion, when it carries no real governance power, no revenue sharing, and is subject to selling pressure from the foundation for its own benefit.
DeFi^2
