Donald Trump’s new cryptocurrency venture, World Liberty Financial (WLF), encountered significant challenges during its launch period. This venture, aiming to function as a crypto bank, initiated its token sale on a Tuesday, following a statement by project co-founder Zachary Folkman that there were “well over 100,000 people” on the whitelist prepared to invest.
However, the launch day was plagued with extensive website outages, severely limiting the sale output. Blockchain data from Etherscan indicated that by Tuesday afternoon, only about 4,300 unique wallet addresses held the token, representing roughly 4% of the registered investors.
WLF reported the sale of over 532 million tokens priced at 15 cents each, which accounted for less than 3% of the 20 billion tokens available for public sale. Throughout the day, visitors to the WLF website frequently encountered “We are under maintenance” notifications. The company did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comments regarding the issues.
This problematic start poses a challenge to the Republican presidential nominee, with the election only three weeks away. The Trump family has been promoting the project since August, branding it “The DeFiant Ones” in reference to decentralized finance (DeFi).
A roadmap intended for potential investors and first reported by The Block outlines WLF’s plan to raise $300 million with a valuation of $1.5 billion in its initial sale. According to Folkman, 20% of the tokens are allocated to the founding team, which includes Trump’s family.
The WLFI digital coin is designed as a Regulation D token offering, allowing capital to be raised without formally registering a security with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). However, conditions apply, such as limiting the sale size and restricting sales to accredited investors with a net worth exceeding $1 million.
The project’s future objectives remain largely undisclosed, although insiders suggest that WLF plans to enable customers to borrow, lend, and invest in cryptocurrency. An official white paper or detailed business plan has yet to be released, but investing is expected to grant users voting rights on the upcoming WLF platform.
Additionally, WLF has started seeking approval for its crypto bank within Aave’s DeFi ecosystem, a trusted and long-established crypto lending platform known for its open-source nature.
On the same day, Trump-related investments encountered broader difficulties. Shares of the Trump Media & Technology Group, which owns the social media platform Truth Social, fell nearly 10% at market close, following a temporary halt in trading due to a sudden drop in stock value.
