Original Title: Trump's WLFI crypto investments aren't paying off
Original Author: Aaron Wood, CoinTelegraph
Original Translation: Deng Tong, Jinse Finance
The cryptocurrency company World Liberty Financial (WLFI), associated with the family of U.S. President Donald Trump, made its debut at the end of last year and caused a stir. WLFI launched on the eve of the presidential inauguration, generating significant buzz. Observers accused the project of preemptively reporting on important cryptocurrency-related events such as the White House cryptocurrency summit, raising concerns about conflicts of interest.
Trump is in a unique position to influence the outcomes of his investment portfolio, but WLFI has also failed to escape the impact of broader market trends, with token prices declining amid significant macroeconomic concerns. The Trump administration is approaching its first hundred days in office. Here’s an update on WLFI and how the president's cryptocurrency investments are being affected.
WLFI's "gold paper" features a flattering image of Trump. Source: WLFI
Trump's Crypto Investment WLFI Project Founders and Ownership
WLFI was established on September 16 of last year, when then-elect President Donald Trump announced his entry into X. The company was founded under the guidance of real estate mogul Steve Witkoff and his son Zach, with co-founders including cryptocurrency investor and self-proclaimed "internet jerk" Chase Herro, and social media influencer and former pick-up artist Zak Folkman.
The Trump family also holds a significant position. President Trump is listed as the "Chief Cryptocurrency Advocate," while his sons Eric, Donald Jr., and Barron serve as "Web3 Ambassadors."
WLFI's leadership team. Source: WLFI
WLFI Token Sale
One of the first initiatives of World Liberty Financial was to sell its own tokens. The initial token sale began on October 15, 2024, selling 20 billion WLFI $WLFI tokens at a price of $0.015, raising approximately $300 million for the company.
On January 20, 2025, the day of Trump's inauguration, WLFI announced a second token sale, citing "huge demand and strong interest." The company issued 5 billion tokens at a price of $0.05, a 230% increase from the initial sale price. The second sale was completed on March 14, nearly two months later, reaching a total target of $250 million.
According to the project's "golden book," WLFI tokens will grant holders voting rights on important matters affecting the protocol (such as upgrades). The expected token distribution is:
· 35% through token sales,
· 32.5% for incentives and community development,
· 30% for "initial supporter" allocation,
· "Core team and advisors" account for 2.5%.
In total, WLFI raised $550 million from token sales. $WLFI is available only to qualified investors and, according to terms and conditions, cannot be transferred or traded on exchanges. The listing date for the token has not been announced.
WLFI's Portfolio
In addition to token sales, WLFI also acts as a cryptocurrency fund, accumulating many different tokens over the past few months. Specifically:
WLFI's portfolio contains a variety of different assets, with 13 assets holding the largest shares as of the time of writing. The majority of its holdings are in the USD-backed stablecoin USDC, followed by Wrapped Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).
According to Arkham, the top 13 assets account for nearly $100 million of the company's $103 million portfolio. The remaining value is made up of dozens of other tokens, some of which have a total value of less than $100,000.
WLFI holds $5 million worth of Aave Ethereum USDC (aethUSDC), meaning they provide USDC to the pool on Aave. WLFI's portfolio includes eight cryptocurrencies that are non-stablecoin assets purchased (not received through airdrops).
· Wrapped BTC (WBTC)
· Mantle (MNT)
· Movement (MOVE)
· Sei (SEI)
· Avalanche (AVAX)
· Tron (TRX)
· Ondo (ONDO)
· Ether (ETH)
Overall, WLFI's holdings in WBTC, SEI, and AVAX have performed the best. The first WBTC purchase occurred on December 18, when WLFI exchanged 103 WBTC for 103 cbBTC. Nearly a month later, WLFI converted all assets into ETH. The fund began accumulating WBTC again, primarily using USDT, and sent it to Coinbase Prime in early February.
WLFI made a one-time purchase of AVAX on March 15 and bought nearly $6 million worth of SEI in three separate purchases in February, March, and April.
Other investments have not fared as well. As of April 24, major investments in MNT, MOVE, ONDO, and ETH have all seen double-digit losses. MOVE was hit hard, with WLFI's total investment value dropping by over 50%, resulting in an investment loss of approximately $2,100,000.
Considering the average purchase price of WLFI tokens and the current prices of its assets, the average investment loss is $4,280,000. Notably, WLFI also deposited several early purchased tokens into Coinbase Prime in December and January.
Before the main actions began, the WLFI wallet gradually accumulated ETH. WLFI started acquiring large amounts of ETH worth over $1 million from late November and continued to do so every few days until December 21. Then, on January 14, it transferred all acquired ETH (including 3,700 ETH deposited in October) to Coinbase Prime.
Between January 19 and January 21, it purchased nearly 57,000 ETH and continued acquiring until February 3, when it transferred most of the ETH to Coinbase Prime. Coincidentally, Eric Trump was also promoting Ethereum on X at that time.
Conflicts of Interest and Stablecoins
The strange timing of WLFI transferring tokens to cryptocurrency exchanges and Eric Trump's posts has raised questions about the Trump family's ability to influence the tokens they hold. At the end of March, a group of senators from the agency's banking committee wrote an open letter urging regulators to consider the potential conflicts of interest surrounding WLFI, particularly regarding the project's stablecoin USD1.
According to CoinMarketCap, USD1 launched in early March and has been traded on centralized exchanges Kinesis Money and ChangeNOW as of the time of writing. Senators are concerned that Trump is in a unique position to influence and benefit his own stablecoin project, especially with Congress set to review a stablecoin framework bill.
After Trump announced tariffs on "Liberation Day," the market plummeted, and the president posted on the right-wing social media platform Truth Social, stating, "Now is a good time to buy!!" further raising concerns about insider trading and market manipulation.
Despite these concerns, the Trump administration's ties to cryptocurrency are strengthening. His administration has withdrawn several high-profile enforcement cases against cryptocurrency companies, and his allies in Congress are drafting legislation favorable to the industry. Cryptocurrency companies seem confident in the project. On April 16, cryptocurrency market maker DWF Labs announced a $25 million investment in WLFI and agreed to provide $150 million in liquidity.
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