Trump Plans to Turn White House Into a Crypto Cash Machine
Donald Trump’s shady new crypto venture is primed to make him and his family millions should he make it to the White House.World Liberty Financial, or WLFI, a decentralized finance platform, promises to “put the power of finance back in the hands of the people,” but it’s actually looking a lot more like a get-rich-quick scheme for Trump and his sons, according to Judd Legum’s Public Information Substack. The Republican nominee is the company’s “Chief Crypto Advocate,” while Eric and Don Jr. are both Web 3 Ambassadors. Barron Trump, a freshman at New York University, is a “DeFi Visionary.” The company has gone to great lengths to disassociate from the Trump family in any formal capacity, according to a draft of the white papers obtained by CoinDesk, but it’s apparent that Trump’s family is a major part of WLFI’s inception—and most certainly its promotion.Late last month, Trump posted the link to World Liberty Financial alongside a blurry edit of himself, with audio from one of his campaign speeches, promising to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the planet.” Wedged between their typical anti-immigrant slime, racist memes, and posts gushing over their father’s bravery, Eric and Don Jr. have repeatedly boosted WLFI’s posts announcing new additions to its team.WLFI even appears to have adopted some of Trump’s rhetoric. Its mission, according to a recent post on X, is to “make crypto and America great by driving the mass adoption of stablecoins and decentralized finance.” While WLFI purports to be a solution to the “rigged” finance system, it seems the Trump boys are the ones who stand to make a buck. Seventy percent of WLFI’s governance tokens, which grant holders voting powers, will be reserved for “insiders,” according to the company’s draft white papers, leaving only 30 percent available for public purchase. Typically, governance tokens are used to fund a venture’s growth, but this abnormal distribution suggests that it could be a cash grab by the Trump family, according to CoinDesk. WLFI’s tokenomics plans have not yet been finalized, one person close to the project told CoinDesk.WLFI is already trying to get around strict Securities and Exchange Commission scrutiny by making its tokens “locked indefinitely,” or nontransferable. This is where Trump’s political ambitions turn WLFI into a blatant moneymaking scheme. Should Trump win the presidential election, he could install a new SEC chair who is far more friendly to cryptocurrencies than Gary Gensler, whom Trump has already pledged to fire. This would allow Trump and his family to “unlock” their shares without incurring the wrath of regulators.Already, WLFI has given the Trump family some trouble. Last week, Lara and Tiffany Trump’s X accounts were hacked and used to promote a crypto scam designed to look like World Liberty Financial.There are some concerns that WLFI itself could be vulnerable to hacks. The owner of World Liberty Finance LLC is Zak Folkman, who previously ran Dough Finance, a lending app that was hacked in July, losing its customers more than $2 million. It appears that some of WLFI’s code was lifted directly from the defunct Dough Finance.
Donald Trump’s shady new crypto venture is primed to make him and his family millions should he make it to the White House.
World Liberty Financial, or WLFI, a decentralized finance platform, promises to “put the power of finance back in the hands of the people,” but it’s actually looking a lot more like a get-rich-quick scheme for Trump and his sons, according to Judd Legum’s Public Information Substack.
The Republican nominee is the company’s “Chief Crypto Advocate,” while Eric and Don Jr. are both Web 3 Ambassadors. Barron Trump, a freshman at New York University, is a “DeFi Visionary.” The company has gone to great lengths to disassociate from the Trump family in any formal capacity, according to a draft of the white papers obtained by CoinDesk, but it’s apparent that Trump’s family is a major part of WLFI’s inception—and most certainly its promotion.
Late last month, Trump posted the link to World Liberty Financial alongside a blurry edit of himself, with audio from one of his campaign speeches, promising to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the planet.” Wedged between their typical anti-immigrant slime, racist memes, and posts gushing over their father’s bravery, Eric and Don Jr. have repeatedly boosted WLFI’s posts announcing new additions to its team.
WLFI even appears to have adopted some of Trump’s rhetoric. Its mission, according to a recent post on X, is to “make crypto and America great by driving the mass adoption of stablecoins and decentralized finance.”
While WLFI purports to be a solution to the “rigged” finance system, it seems the Trump boys are the ones who stand to make a buck.
Seventy percent of WLFI’s governance tokens, which grant holders voting powers, will be reserved for “insiders,” according to the company’s draft white papers, leaving only 30 percent available for public purchase. Typically, governance tokens are used to fund a venture’s growth, but this abnormal distribution suggests that it could be a cash grab by the Trump family, according to CoinDesk.
WLFI’s tokenomics plans have not yet been finalized, one person close to the project told CoinDesk.
WLFI is already trying to get around strict Securities and Exchange Commission scrutiny by making its tokens “locked indefinitely,” or nontransferable. This is where Trump’s political ambitions turn WLFI into a blatant moneymaking scheme. Should Trump win the presidential election, he could install a new SEC chair who is far more friendly to cryptocurrencies than Gary Gensler, whom Trump has already pledged to fire. This would allow Trump and his family to “unlock” their shares without incurring the wrath of regulators.
Already, WLFI has given the Trump family some trouble. Last week, Lara and Tiffany Trump’s X accounts were hacked and used to promote a crypto scam designed to look like World Liberty Financial.
There are some concerns that WLFI itself could be vulnerable to hacks. The owner of World Liberty Finance LLC is Zak Folkman, who previously ran Dough Finance, a lending app that was hacked in July, losing its customers more than $2 million. It appears that some of WLFI’s code was lifted directly from the defunct Dough Finance.
