World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a cryptocurrency project backed by former US President Donald Trump and his family, has successfully completed its token sale.
In doing so, it has raised an impressive $590 million, making it one of the largest fundraising events in the crypto industry.
WLFI was launched in September 2024 with the goal of strengthening the US dollar’s position in global finance.
The project aims to achieve this by using stablecoins and creating a decentralised finance (DeFi) lending platform similar to Aave.
The public sale of its governance token began on 15 October 2024. The project initially planned to raise $300 million by selling 20 billion tokens at a price of $0.015 each.
However, demand was lower than expected, with only 766 million tokens sold, raising $11 million. This led the team to reduce their target to $30 million.
Interest in the project increased significantly after the launch of two Trump-themed tokens—Official Trump ($TRUMP) and Melania Meme ($MELANIA). These tokens became popular in the market and helped attract more investors to WLFI.
By 20 January 2025, WLFI had sold 20% of its total token supply. To meet growing demand, the project released an additional 5 billion tokens at a higher price of $0.05 each. By 13 March, 99% of these new tokens had been sold, marking the completion of the token sale.
One of the biggest investors in WLFI is the founder of Tron, Justin Sun. He first purchased $30 million worth of WLFI tokens in November 2024.
In January 2025, he increased his investment by another $45 million, bringing his total contribution to $75 million. Sun’s involvement gave WLFI more credibility, attracting additional investors even as traditional venture capital firms hesitated to participate.
WLFI’s expanding crypto holdings
Aside from its token sale, WLFI has been actively investing in various cryptocurrencies over the past few months.
According to blockchain analytics platform Spot On Chain, the project recently spent $100,000 $USDC to acquire 541,242 $SEI tokens at a price of $0.185 each.
Currently, WLFI owns 1.089 million $SEI tokens, which were purchased for $225,000. However, their current value has dropped slightly to around $207,000.
Since the market downturn in late February, WLFI has invested a total of $21.6 million in different cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum ($ETH), Wrapped Bitcoin ($WBTC), Movement ($MOVE), and $SEI.
Data from blockchain intelligence platform, Arkham Intelligence, shows that WLFI’s total cryptocurrency portfolio is worth nearly $78 million.
The project holds 7,900 $ETH, valued at $15 million. It also owns $14.82 million in $USDT (Tether), as well as 162 $WBTC, which are collectively worth about $13.44 million.
Additionally, WLFI has $9.4 million in staked Ethereum and a further $9 million in Tron ($TRX). The project has also made significant investments in Movement, Ondo, and Usacoin.
Speculation about WLFI’s connection to Binance
Recently, reports have surfaced suggesting that WLFI may have explored a possible partnership with Binance, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges. However, former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has denied any business ties with WLFI.
A Bloomberg report cited four unnamed sources who claimed that discussions took place between WLFI and Binance.
These talks allegedly included the idea of launching a stablecoin backed by the US dollar. However, the report did not mention any direct involvement from Trump himself.
Earlier, The Wall Street Journal had reported that Trump’s family considered buying a stake in Binance.US. The article also claimed that CZ had sought a presidential pardon.
CZ responded to these claims, saying, “I never discussed any business deals with Trump or his associates”.
However, his response mainly addressed his personal involvement, leaving room for speculation about WLFI’s potential connection to Binance.
Bloomberg later doubled down on its claims, stating that WLFI had explored multiple business opportunities with Binance, including developing a stablecoin and investing in Binance.US.
WLFI’s website lists Eric Trump as a board manager and states that some Trump family members hold WLFI tokens. However, there is no official link between Donald Trump himself and the project’s operations.
“If these discussions did happen, it would raise serious ethical concerns”, said a crypto industry analyst.
A partnership between WLFI and Binance could create conflicts of interest since Trump’s political influence could affect financial regulators’ decisions regarding Binance.
The crypto community has already questioned Trump’s involvement in the $TRUMP meme coin. If direct financial ties between WLFI and Binance were confirmed, it could lead to further scrutiny.
Despite these rumours, there is no concrete evidence that a deal was ever finalised. CZ has repeatedly denied the allegations, calling Bloomberg’s article a “baseless hit piece” and insisting that Binance has never purchased WLFI tokens. However, Bloomberg continues to report that its sources stand by their claims.
Adding to the speculation, WLFI co-founder Steve Witkoff—who is known for his connections to Trump—was reportedly present at the Bitcoin MENA 2024 event, where CZ also attended.
While some sources claim that Witkoff and CZ met at the event, Zhao has neither confirmed nor denied whether this meeting took place.
As more details emerge, the debate around WLFI’s potential ties to Binance continues. If discussions between the two did take place, it could change public perception of Trump’s involvement in crypto and impact Binance’s efforts to rebuild its reputation following recent regulatory challenges.
