TLDR:
- Market: WLFI, an Ethereum DeFi token, reached pre-market Binance futures of $0.55 before settling on $0.27, after the excitement generated by $550M presale and $2.4B USD1 stablecoin market cap.
- Narrative: World Liberty Finances, whose family belongs to the Trump family, opens 20% of WLFI tokens on 1 September 2025 to enable trading by the presale investors. With the inclusion of USD1 stablecoin and a governance mechanism, WLFI will hopefully redefine DeFi, regulatory attention, and volatility being the risk.
World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a DeFi project launched in September 2024 with close ties to the Trump family, will unlock 20% of its 100 billion WLFI token supply for presale investors on September 1, 2025, at 12:00 UTC. Announced on August 23, 2025, via X, this marks the first time WLFI tokens, sold at $0.015 and $0.05 in two rounds raising $550M, become tradable. Investors must activate the audited Lockbox smart contract on the project’s website by August 25 to claim tokens, with the remaining 80% subject to community governance votes. Founder, team, and advisor tokens remain locked to curb sell-offs.
Backed by high-profile investors like Justin Sun ($75M) and a $1.5B investment from ALT5 Sigma Corporation, WLFI aims to build a “digital bank” with its USD1 stablecoin, now at a $2.4B market cap after a recent $205M mint. On the Ethereum-based ERC-20 standard and Chainlink oracles for transparency, WLFI now aims to list on both decentralized (DEXs) exchanges, such as Uniswap and Sushiswap, and CEXs such as Binance, which launched WLFI futures trading on 23 August and reached highs of $0.55 only to close at $0.27—a phenomenal growth from the presale prices. WLFI even has the promise of a mobile app and DeFi features such as lending and borrowing USD1.
However, WLFI’s Trump connection stirs controversy due to the supposed conflict of interest assertions and risk of regulatory intervention, particularly on the heels of the GENIUS Act legalizing stablecoins in the U.S. Speculations on the 7% WLFI allocation to Aave, offered through a revenue-sharing arrangement, shot AAVE to $367 on Aug. 23 last, although WLFI was said to deny the news report, and Aave’s founder avers the deal was approved. With an implied fully diluted valuation of $40B and the Trump family owning 22.5B tokens (value ~$9B currently), the WLFI announcement is a bet. Market participants should prepare for volatility and keep a close eye on governance outputs, regulatory progress, and USD1 adoption.
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