Donald Trump’s foray into the cryptocurrency world is encountering significant hurdles. The newly established World Liberty Financial (WLF), which aims to function as a crypto bank, kicked off its token sale on Tuesday.
Just a day prior, co-founder Zachary Folkman announced that “well over 100,000 people” were on the whitelist, eager to invest. However, the launch did not go as smoothly as anticipated.
Technical Glitches Hamper Sales
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The WLF website experienced frequent and prolonged outages throughout much of the day, leading to a limited number of transactions.
By Tuesday afternoon, blockchain data from Etherscan revealed that only about 4,300 unique wallet addresses were holding the token, which represents roughly 4% of those who registered for the sale.
Despite this, WLF claimed to have sold over 532 million tokens at a price of $0.015 each, accounting for less than 3% of the 20 billion tokens available for public sale.
During the day, users were often met with a maintenance message when trying to access the site, significantly impacting potential sales.
Implications for Trump’s Political Campaign
This rocky start poses a potential setback for Trump, particularly with just three weeks left until the election. Since August, he and his family have been promoting the project under the catchy title “The DeFiant Ones,” a nod to decentralized finance (DeFi).
According to a roadmap shared with potential investors, WLF aims to raise $300 million at a $1.5 billion valuation during its initial sale.
Folkman, who has a background in the crypto space and previously operated a venture called Date Hotter Girls, mentioned that 20% of WLF’s tokens would be reserved for the founding team, including the Trump family.
Regulatory Framework and Future Plans
WLF is structured as a Regulation D token offering, which allows for capital raising without first registering a security with the SEC.
This approach imposes specific conditions, such as limiting the sale size and restricting participation to accredited investors—those with a net worth exceeding $1 million.
Details about WLF’s future plans remain sparse. Participants in the project have suggested that the platform will facilitate borrowing, lending, and investing in cryptocurrencies.
However, there has been no official white paper or formal business plan released to the public. The primary disclosed feature is that investing in WLF will grant users voting rights on the forthcoming platform.
Last week, WLF also initiated the approval process for its crypto bank within the DeFi ecosystem, seeking validation from Aave, one of the most trusted and long-standing crypto lending platforms.
Broader Market Concerns
The challenges faced by WLF were not the only concerns for Trump-related investments on Tuesday.
Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of the social media platform Truth Social, experienced a nearly 10% drop in value at market close after trading was briefly halted due to a sudden plummet in stock price.
As World Liberty Financial navigates these early difficulties, the attention will remain on how the project develops and whether it can regain investor confidence in the coming weeks.