The team of former President Donald Trump announced the details of a new crypto project as part of a lengthy live event on X this week. The announcement, made on a crypto media outlet called Rug Radio, included participation from Chase Herro, Zachary Folkman, Donald Trump, Jr., and Eric Trump.
The purpose of the Trump crypto initiative, called World Liberty Financial, is still murky; event hosts spoke about the erosion of trust in banks and the need for the U.S. to stay at the forefront of financial innovation, which are typical talking points for bitcoin advocates, but no clear message was conveyed about how World Liberty Financial would approach those problems.
On the other hand, much of the audience, which peaked at over 50,000 listeners, was likely more interested in finding out when, how, and where to invest.
The answer: A governance token called WLFI will be sold on public exchanges. Governance tokens typically allow holders to vote on changes or improvements to a project’s protocol, financial decisions, and future developments. While this project claims to emphasize decentralization and fairness, several important details warrant a more cautious, fact-based look.
The governance token will be available through a regulated Know Your Customer (KYC) process in the U.S., with participation limited to accredited investors. In order to qualify, individuals must meet certain income or net worth thresholds, as per U.S. financial regulations. This restricts the token’s availability to high-net-worth individuals or institutions, which will limit its access to a broad audience.
The token will also be available internationally, but as of now, specifics regarding how international buyers can participate remain unclear.
Event hosts placed significant emphasis on the fairness of its token distribution model. Approximately 63% of the tokens will be sold to the public, with claims that there will be no early buy-ins or insider deals – a notable departure from the norm in the cryptocurrency world, where early investors often secure tokens at lower prices or through private sales before public access.
In addition to the public sale, 17% of the tokens will be reserved for user rewards. These rewards are intended to incentivize user participation, whether through governance voting, staking, or using the platform's services. While this can help build a dedicated user base, it’s uncertain how these rewards will be distributed over time and whether they’ll create real value for users.
The remaining 20% of the token supply will be allocated for the team, advisers, and future hires. While team and adviser compensation is common in the industry, this allocation does represent a significant portion of the total token supply. Investors should consider whether this distribution aligns with their expectations of a fair balance between public ownership and insider control.
The project’s governance system includes a notable restriction: no individual or entity can control more than 5% of the voting power, regardless of how many tokens they hold. This measure is intended to prevent the centralization of control and ensure a more democratic decision-making process, where no single entity can dominate the platform's direction.
