World Liberty Financial: A Trump-Backed Crypto Venture
HONG KONG — World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency project supported by former President Donald Trump, has gained significant momentum largely due to the involvement of Justin Sun, a prominent billionaire in the crypto space originally from China. Sun became an official advisor to the project after making a substantial investment of $30 million in its token, WLFI, as revealed by World Liberty co-founder Zak Folkman during a panel at CoinDesk’s Consensus Hong Kong conference.
Folkman emphasized that the primary objective of World Liberty Financial is to bridge the gap between traditional financial institutions and decentralized finance, stating, “the goal of the project is being able to create progress to actually merge traditional financial institutions with decentralized finance.” Initially, the Trump-endorsed WLFI struggled to capture investor interest, falling short of its $30 million fundraising goal. At that time, the token was limited in its trading capabilities, accessible only to non-U.S. investors and accredited U.S. investors.
However, the dynamics shifted dramatically when Sun entered the picture. Folkman noted, “This guy,” gesturing towards Sun, “saw that regardless of the outcome, this project is a monumental move forward for the entire crypto community.” Following Trump’s announcement of World Liberty Financial alongside his sons in October, which described it as a lending platform built on Aave — a widely recognized decentralized finance protocol based on Ethereum — the project’s potential began to unfold. Although the platform has yet to officially launch, Folkman indicated that World Liberty is currently developing “a whole range of products and applications” rather than focusing on just a single offering.
Today, World Liberty Financial is best known for WLFI, the governance token that was introduced shortly after the project’s unveiling. Folkman recalled the heated atmosphere surrounding the launch, stating, “When we were launching this project, it was a very heated time. There was a lot of scrutiny on our project due to who was involved.” Following Sun’s multi-million dollar endorsement, Folkman noted, “everything kind of snowballed from there.” As a result, World Liberty not only exceeded its initial fundraising target but also set a new one. If they successfully meet this revised goal — which appears increasingly likely — Folkman mentioned that WLFI could become the fourth-largest initial coin offering (ICO) in history.
Folkman asserted that WLFI’s success was achieved without “no VC backing and no special treatment to anybody who purchased the token.” Notably, Sun was elevated to the status of an official investor in World Liberty after his initial purchase of WLFI tokens. Additionally, World Liberty made a $10 million investment in TRX tokens, which are the native currency of Sun’s TRON blockchain, as well as in WBTC, a bitcoin derivative associated with Sun.
Earlier in February, Blockworks reported that World Liberty was exploring a strategy to entice crypto teams: if a company buys WLFI tokens and pays an extra fee, World Liberty would incorporate that company’s tokens into its portfolio — a compelling marketing tactic for emerging crypto projects. Folkman responded to the report, clarifying, “I’ve seen that going around. The person who was going out and purporting to represent us was not connected with our company.”
