Trump’s new crypto project opens access to $540m cash cow

World Liberty Financial, an upcoming DeFi app tied to members of the Trump family, could provide the former president with hundreds of millions of dollars from token sales.

Code tests identified by X user Dumpster DAO reveal plans for the project to sell 30% of its WFLI token supply at a $1.8 billion valuation to raise the sum.

The project’s white paper specifies that although the platform is not owned, managed, operated, or sold by former President Donald Trump, he and other members of his family may still receive compensation from it.

The sale, if it finds buyers for all 30 billion tokens on offer, would put $537 million into its coffers.

The amount is notable as Trump still owes $454 million in fines to the state of New York from his business fraud lawsuit.

The information contained in the test code lines up with a draft of World Liberty Financial’s white paper, first reported by CoinDesk. The draft said insiders are set to receive 70% of the WLFI token, while the remaining 30% will be sold to the public.

At a valuation of $1.8 billion, those who stand to benefit from the project, including several members of the Trump family, could walk away with tokens valued at almost $1.3 billion.

The outsized allocation of tokens to insiders, as well as other concerns, have split opinions.

World Liberty Financial says its mission is to “make crypto and America great by driving the mass adoption of stablecoins and decentralised finance.”

But onchain sleuths have been quick to highlight the project’s connection to Dough Finance, a previous DeFi protocol that was hacked for $2.1 million in July.

World Liberty Financial reassured potential investors on Telegram — a messaging app.

“We’re not taking any chances,” the project said. “Our code has been thoroughly reviewed.”

Still, many aren’t convinced.

Some, such as Castle Island Ventures founding partner Nic Carter, aired concerns that the project is an “unnecessary distraction,” at best, and could cause embarrassment and legal trouble for Trump.

Finding the tests

World Liberty Financial’s connection to Dough Finance was key to identifying the code tests.

Blockchains produce a firehose of data, and it can be very difficult to identify specific activity unless users already know where to look.

Dumpster DAO found out where to look by connecting World Liberty Financial to DeFi protocol Dough Finance through a former team member, Chase Hero, who had been tagged in social media posts about World Liberty Financial.

CoinDesk later reported that four members listed in World Liberty Financial’s white paper previously worked on Dough Finance.

Dumpster DAO checked the Dough Finance token deployer — an address on the Polygon blockchain — and found test contracts labelled WLFinancial and WLFiPresale.

The contracts reveal plans to sell 30% of the supply of a token called WLFI over six price tranches, starting at $0.0075 and ending at $0.03 per token, raising a combined $537 million.

The code in the tests specifies that WLFI will not initially be tradable. But it leaves the option for the project to upgrade WLFI to make it tradable at a later date.

It’s not clear if World Liberty Financial launching an untradable token will still draw the attention of regulators.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission previously said it considers similar token sales, known in the industry as initial coin offerings, to be securities offerings.

A spokesperson for World Liberty Financial declined a request for comment.

Tim Craig is DL News’ Edinburgh-based DeFi Correspondent. Reach out with tips at tim@dlnews.com.