Trump’s World Liberty Financial To Sell Tokens

World Liberty Financial, a new decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol backed by Donald Trump and his family, has announced plans to begin selling tokens on Tuesday, just three weeks before the presidential election where Donald Trump is the Republican candidate.

“Big News! Public sale starts October 15th, open to everyone who qualifies through the whitelist,” the project’s social media account announced on Friday via X.

Source: X

The project is led by Zachary Folkman and Chase Herro, who were previously involved with Dough Finance, a DeFi platform that suffered a $2 million loss from a July exploit. Despite this history, members of the Trump family, including Donald Trump, have publicly supported the new venture. Donald Trump has been given the title of “Chief Crypto Advocate,” while his sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. are serving as “Web3 Ambassadors.” His youngest son, Barron Trump, is listed as the project’s “DeFi Visionary.”

World Liberty Financial aims to raise $300 million through the token sale at a $1.5 billion valuation. The token, called WLFI, will serve as the governance token for the protocol, allowing users to vote on initiatives related to its development.

In a proposal submitted to Aave’s governance forum, the project has outlined plans to launch on Aave’s v3 platform on Ethereum mainnet. This would involve providing liquidity for assets such as Ether (ETH), wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC), stablecoins, and potentially other digital assets.

Globally Accessible DeFi Protocol

In a medium post by the project, they state that World Liberty Financial, Inc. (“WLFi”) is poised to launch a comprehensive and globally accessible Decentralized Finance (DeFi) protocol, combining cutting-edge technology, extensive crypto expertise, and brand influence. 

This protocol aims to democratize access to digital asset systems, enabling permissionless and peer-to-peer transactions for users worldwide. Alongside this, WLFi will introduce the WLFi governance platform, empowering $WLFI token holders to participate in shaping the protocol through decentralized governance.

The WLFi protocol is designed as an all-in-one solution for DeFi users globally, developed by industry-leading crypto experts. By leveraging strategic partnerships and widespread distribution channels, WLFi seeks to redefine DeFi for mass adoption, integrating advanced blockchain technology and user-friendly features.

Source: WLF

Fast and Accessible DeFi

The WLFi governance platform will allow community control over key aspects of the protocol. Through this decentralized platform, WLFi’s goal is to facilitate widespread adoption by making DeFi more accessible, intuitive, and community-driven. WLFi intends to offer users a seamless onboarding experience with one-click social login and wallet creation, aiming to deliver a top-tier DeFi application with the scale and reach necessary for global use.

Subject to approval through its governance platform, WLFi plans to operate on both Ethereum and Scroll. Ethereum, with its deep liquidity, is well-suited for large-scale institutional capital, while Scroll’s fast, secure, and gas-less transactions through paymaster services enhance the user experience for everyday users.

WLFi’s Future

WLFi proposes to launch on Aave, pending successful governance votes by both AaveDAO and WLFi’s governance platform. If approved, this would allow users to access Aave’s leading non-custodial, peer-to-peer borrowing and lending platform, combining DeFi’s core lending and borrowing functionalities with the user experience of modern web applications.

Luke Pearson, General Partner & Research Cryptographer at Polychain Capital and advisor to WLFi, described the project as “a unique opportunity to build a platform that’s accessible and secure for both seasoned crypto users and newcomers. The chance to bring advanced programmable finance to institutional players and global markets is a major step in broadening DeFi’s reach.”

Doubts from Aave Community

The proposal on the Aave governance forum discusses the potential deployment of World Liberty Financial (WLFi) on Aave v3’s Ethereum mainnet. The proposal focuses on using the platform for liquidity provisioning with assets like ETH and WBTC, while managing risks dynamically through adjusting supply caps based on stablecoin liquidity. 

Several Community members have asked for further clarification and details about these plans and how WLFi intends to implement them within the Aave ecosystem.

While many community members were supportive of the users and attention the proposal will bring to Aave, others are more skeptical such as the user icaretoomuch who wrote “I believe this proposal poses significant risk to the Aave protocol for little gain. I would encourage WLF to stand up their own fork / protocol independently and gain the trust of the crypto community before asking the largest and most trusted protocol in DeFi to take the risk of collaborating with an entity lead by people of questionable backgrounds 19, including several convicted criminals.

For me a huge red flag is the old WLF website itself which was plastered with images of Trump. How many times has the crypto community been burned by a cult of personality?
The irony of a man notorious for not paying back creditors launching a decentralized lending protocol is almost too good to be true.

This project is backed by a former US President and his family who is currently running for a second term. Does this support Aave values to have state actors involved in the protocol? Is it beneficial to Aave to collaborate with an entity associated with the Trump cult of personality which actively sews hate, fear, lies, and dissension around the world 2? Are these the values of Aave and the larger crypto community?