Former US President Donald Trump has officially announced the launch of his much-anticipated decentralized finance (DeFi) venture, World Liberty Financial (WLFI). The project will be introduced through a Twitter Spaces event on September 16.
It promises a significant shift from traditional banking to blockchain technology.
Trump Family’s New DeFi Project Faces Scrutiny
In a recent video message on X (formerly Twitter), Trump conveyed his enthusiasm for the new endeavor.
“Join me live on Twitter Spaces at 8 PM, this September 16, for the launch of World Liberty Financial. We are embracing the future with crypto, and leaving the slow and outdated big banks behind,” he stated.
Read more: Top 11 DeFi Protocols To Keep an Eye on in 2024
Trump’s sons, Donald Jr. and Eric Trump spearhead the project. The DeFi project has sparked interest and speculation within financial and political circles.
Initially teased last month on Trump’s platform, Truth Social, WLFI was first referred to as “The DeFiant Ones” before receiving its current name. Despite generating buzz, the project has not been without controversy.
Notably, according to a Newsweek report, World Liberty Financial’s website employs an anonymous privacy service previously linked to Russian cybercriminals. The website, registered with Namecheap, utilizes domain privacy services from Withheld for Privacy, a company established in 2021, based in Iceland, and known for permitting complete anonymity online.
This association has attracted scrutiny, although there has been no accusation of direct misconduct against World Liberty Financial. The use of such privacy services raises questions about the transparency and operation of Trump’s DeFi initiative.
“At the early stages of a crypto rollout, it’s not unusual to see multiple affiliated business entities or to have various privacy measures in place. That said, if and when a crypto offer is made to the public, investors should be entitled to full and fair disclosure of a broad array of information,” Jay Kesten, a law professor at Florida State University College of Law, stated.
Moreover, in an interview with BeInCrypto, Kadan Stadelmann, the CTO of Komodo Platform, compared Trump’s DeFi project with the celebrity meme coins.
“Celebrity meme coins offer no more assurances than a token issued by an anonymous team. One after another, celebrities have demonstrated they have no problem grifting off of their fanbases by releasing non-functional tokens after non-functional tokens. Regardless of one’s thoughts on former President Trump’s policies, buyer beware when it comes to his token project,” Komodo told BeInCrypto.
Amid these concerns, speculation has also arisen regarding the potential financial benefits for the Trump family. Reports suggest that the family could earn approximately $540 million by selling 30% of WLFI’s supply, assuming a fully diluted valuation of about $1.8 billion. This aspect adds another layer of interest and controversy to the project.
Moreover, WLFI’s operational strategy appears to align with established DeFi protocols. Earlier hints from an X account suggested that WLFI might be a fork of Aave, a lending DeFi platform. Additionally, there are rumors that World Liberty Financial will operate on blockchain networks like Ethereum or Polygon.
Read more: How To Use Aave?
World Liberty Financial made a clarifying statement on X in response to rumors.
“We’re not just another hostile fork of Aave. History shows those don’t work. We’re working with Aave, collaborating to create a platform that sets new standards and pushes all of DeFi forward,” the company asserted.
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