Trump Launches Long-Awaited Crypto Initiative
Former President Donald Trump and his family officially revealed more details about their cryptocurrency initiative, World Liberty Financial, during a livestream event on September 18, 2024. The project has garnered attention as part of Trump’s broader push to position the United States as a global leader in cryptocurrency.
At a glance:
- World Liberty Financial is a cryptocurrency project backed by Donald Trump and his sons, featuring a new token called WLFI.
- 63% of the WLFI tokens will be made available to the public, with 37% allocated to the founding team and user rewards.
- The project has faced early criticism, particularly over concerns that a large portion of tokens would initially be given to the founders.
During the livestream, Trump emphasized the importance of embracing cryptocurrency, stating, “Crypto is one of those things we have to do. Whether we like it or not, I have to do it.” Despite his previous skepticism toward crypto, Trump has since adopted a more favorable stance, calling for the U.S. to become the “crypto capital” of the world and advocating for the mining of Bitcoin on American soil.
Eric and Donald Trump, Jr., have been actively promoting the project on social media, though the official launch date remains unknown. The cryptocurrency’s token, WLFI, will allocate 63% of its supply for public sale, with 20% going to the founding team and 17% reserved for user rewards. Earlier drafts, which proposed giving 70% of the tokens to the founders, sparked worries that the venture might be a potential scam.
Donald Trump himself has been listed as the project’s “chief crypto advocate,” though during the announcement, he focused largely on other topics such as immigration and recent assassination attempts against him. His youngest son, Barron Trump, is involved as the project’s “DeFi visionary,” with Trump remarking that Barron owns “four wallets or something” and is highly knowledgeable about cryptocurrency.
The day-to-day operations are managed by Zachary Folkman, the head of operations, and Chase Herro, who is responsible for overseeing data and strategies. Herro was previously associated with Dough Finance, a blockchain application compromised in a hacking incident, while Folkman has a background in running a company focused on dating seminars.
Real estate investor Steve Witkoff has also joined the leadership team and revealed that his son introduced him to Herro and Folkman, who then connected with the Trump family. Despite the ambitious project and its influential backers, details about its launch and long-term viability remain unclear.
Witkoff was with the former president on Sunday afternoon when he was evacuated from his West Palm Beach golf course following a second assassination attempt.
