BitMart Research Institute Deep Analysis: The Financial Ambitions of the Trump Family's Crypto Project WLFI

I. Project Background

1. Project Introduction

WLFI is a DeFi project supported by the Trump family, officially launched in September 2024. Its core goal is to promote the widespread use of stablecoins, strengthen the dollar's dominant position in the global financial system, and utilize cryptocurrency technology to realize the vision of "Making America Great Again." WLFI is positioned as a DeFi lending platform, initially operating on the Ethereum network, using established DeFi protocols (such as Aave v3) to optimize user experience rather than introducing entirely new financial instruments.

On December 13, 2024, the World Liberty Financial community successfully deployed an Aave v3 instance through its first proposal. Although WLFI has made initial progress, many of the project team's co-founders are new faces, and the long-term viability and innovative potential of the project remain to be validated.

On February 12, 2025, WLFI announced the launch of the "Macro Strategy," aimed at establishing a strategic token reserve to support leading cryptocurrency projects such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. This strategy will help WLFI enhance stability, promote growth, and build trust while collaborating with traditional financial institutions to drive asset tokenization. WLFI is working with several financial institutions to incorporate its tokenized assets into reserves and provide transparency through public blockchain wallets. Additionally, WLFI will collaborate with partner institutions on marketing and branding activities to showcase its leadership in financial innovation.

2. Team Information

Role of the Trump Family

• Donald J. Trump: Listed as the "Chief Cryptocurrency Advocate," responsible for endorsing the project but not deeply involved in technology or operations.

• Eric Trump & Donald Trump Jr. & Barron Trump: Serve as "Web3 Ambassadors," primarily responsible for promoting and publicizing the project.

Core Co-Founders

• Chase Herro and Zak Folkman: Both co-lead operations but face significant background controversy due to a lack of experience in the crypto industry. Chase Herro has been involved in cannabis sales and the promotion of controversial tokens; Zak Folkman previously founded a male dating coaching company.

• Witkoff Family: Real estate developer Steven Witkoff and his sons Zach and Alex have close ties to the Trump family. Steven donated $2 million to Trump's campaign and was appointed as a special envoy to the Middle East after Trump's victory.

Core Technical Staff

• Rich Teo: Head of stablecoins and payments, previously founded the exchange itBit and the stablecoin company Paxos, currently serving as CEO of Paxos Asia. Additionally, Rich is an advisor for the SocialFi project RepubliK.

• Corey Caplan: Head of technical strategy, co-founder of the DeFi platform Dolomite, responsible for integrating lending and trading functions.

• Bogdan Purnavel: Chief developer, previously a developer at Dough Finance.

Advisory Team

• Alexei Dulub: Founder of Web3 Antivirus, a blockchain security expert, involved in L1/L2 development since 2013.

• Sandy Peng: Co-founder of the Ethereum Layer 2 network Scroll, providing scalability technology support.

• Justin Sun: As a strategic advisor and the largest investor (investing $75 million), promoting ecological cooperation with TRON.

Information Source: WLFI Official Website

II. Funding Sources and Token Uses

WLFI's funding sources are obtained through fundraising via WLFI tokens, raising a total of $455 million as of February 9 (data source: WLFI Official Website). The first round of public sales sold 2.13 billion tokens at a unit price of $0.015, raising a total of $319 million. In the second round of public sales, the project raised the unit price to $0.05, raising a total of $136 million as of February 9. Currently, the total estimated value of the cryptocurrency assets purchased by WLFI is approximately $325.8 million, including important projects such as ETH, WBTC, DeFi, and RWA. However, it is important to note that the project's operation is not a fund-style issuance of WLFI tokens to raise funds for purchasing mainstream project tokens with growth potential, where WLFI token holders share the returns from the appreciation of the asset portfolio. The project white paper clearly states that the WLFI purchased by users is only a governance token and does not entitle holders to any distribution of investment returns. Although WLFI defines itself as a DeFi lending platform, it has not yet begun operations or provided DeFi services, so the WLFI token currently has no value or use case.

III. Total Holdings

As of February 2025, WLFI's total asset value is estimated to be approximately $327 million, with on-chain asset value around $37.79 million, and centralized exchange asset value (if not sold) around $289 million (deposited in Coinbase Prime for fund management and business operations).

WLFI On-Chain Assets (data source: ARKM)

|-------|-------|------------|------------|------------| | No | Asset | Holding | Price(USD) | Value(USD) | | 1 | USDC | 9,683,000 | 1 | 9,683,000 | | 2 | TRX | 40,718,000 | 0.24 | 9,772,320 | | 3 | STETH | 2,743 | 2,664 | 7,172,127 | | 4 | USDT | 4,373,000 | 1 | 4,373,000 | | 5 | ETH | 2,084 | 2,663 | 5,451,704 | | 6 | ONDO | 342,002 | 1.34 | 458,283 | | 7 | MOVE | 1,634,000 | 0.54 | 882,360 | | TOTAL | | | | 37,792,794 |

WLFI Coinbase Prime Assets (data source: SpotonChain)

|-------|-------|--------------------------|-------------|-------------| | No | Asset | Amount To Coinbase Prime | Price (USD) | Value (USD) | | 1 | ETH | 73,783 | 2,663 | 196,484,129 | | 2 | WBTC | 553 | 97,027 | 53,648,169 | | 3 | AAVE | 16,585 | 246.7 | 4,091,520 | | 4 | LINK | 219,149 | 18.79 | 4,117,810 | | 5 | ENA | 4,941,034 | 0.5 | 2,470,517 | | 6 | MOVE | 2,050,010 | 0.54 | 1,107,005 | | 7 | ONDO | 114,754 | 1.34 | 153,770 | | 8 | USDC | 27,859,000 | 1 | 27,859,000 | | TOTAL | | | | 289,931,920 |

IV. Holdings Structure Analysis

As a cryptocurrency project closely associated with the Trump family, WLFI's asset allocation strategy has attracted market attention and derived the concept of "presidential selection." As of February 2025, ETH occupies a core position in WLFI's crypto holdings (accounting for 63.8%), followed by WBTC (accounting for 16.4%), with remaining funds allocated to DeFi and RWA sectors. Notably, despite the ETH/BTC exchange rate continuously declining since December 2024, WLFI has chosen to increase its ETH holdings against the trend, highlighting its bet on the underlying infrastructure value of the Ethereum ecosystem. In terms of sector selection, WLFI focuses on leading projects: in the DeFi space, it allocates to the oracle leader Chainlink (LINK) and the lending protocol Aave (AAVE); in the RWA sector, it heavily invests in the tokenized U.S. Treasury protocol Ondo Finance (ONDO) and the synthetic dollar protocol Ethena (ENA), forming a combination of "established protocols + emerging protocols."

In terms of external cooperation, WLFI has formed a deep binding with Justin Sun, who has cumulatively invested $75 million through HTX-related addresses, becoming the largest institutional investor. This also explains the logic behind WLFI holding TRX and WBTC.

In terms of fund management, WLFI recently transferred $307.4 million in assets to Coinbase Prime for custody and unstaked 19,400 stETH for liquidity management. The project currently holds a reserve of $47.49 million in stablecoins, with future investments likely focusing on three main directions: 1) supplementing core asset holdings; 2) investing in emerging RWA protocols; 3) paying for ecological cooperation fees.

1. Ethereum (ETH)

ETH: 78,610 (valued at $209 million, accounting for 63.8%).

2. DeFi

AAVE: 16,585 (valued at $4.091 million, accounting for 1.2%)

LINK: 219,000 (valued at $4.117 million, accounting for 1.3%)

3. RWA

ENA: 4,941,000 (valued at $2.47 million, accounting for 0.8%)

ONDO: 456,000 (valued at $612,000, accounting for 0.001%)

4. Justin Sun's Assets

WBTC: 553 (valued at $53.648 million, accounting for 16.4%)

TRX: 40,710,000 (valued at $9.772 million, accounting for 3%)

5. Other Assets

USDC: 37,540,000 (valued at $37.54 million, accounting for 11.5%)

USDT: 4,370,000 (valued at $4.14 million, accounting for 1.3%)

MOVE: 3,680,000 (valued at $1.989 million, accounting for 0.3%)

V. WLFI Project Logic Analysis: Political Empowerment and Financial Ambition

1. Financialization of Political Resources: Fundraising Tool of the Trump Family

From WLFI's token economic model, as much as 75% of the sales revenue directly belongs to the Trump family, while the project's legal structure deliberately avoids direct association with Trump himself, but reinforces its political binding attributes through public endorsements by family members (such as Eric Trump). This design essentially transforms Trump's political influence into quantifiable financial assets, making it a political fundraising tool rather than a truly decentralized financial product. The market generally views WLFI as a "bet on the prospects of Trump's cryptocurrency policy support." The behavior of investors purchasing this token is essentially equivalent to indirectly supporting Trump's campaign. This model is similar to the Trump MEME token previously launched by Trump, both serving as alternative fundraising channels outside traditional political donations.

2. Market Sentiment Manipulation: Dual Operation of Funds and Narratives

The project can leverage Trump's political influence to create market sentiment for itself and associated projects. For example, after receiving investment from Justin Sun, WLFI made significant purchases of TRX and WBTC, with current holdings valued at approximately $63.41 million. As of February 9, Justin Sun has invested a total of $75 million, with 84.5% of the funds used to purchase associated tokens. Additionally, WLFI's co-founder Chase Herro recently stated plans to establish a "strategic reserve" using tokens purchased by WLFI, although he did not specify the goals and reasons for establishing the token reserve, this topic has been a focus since Trump promised to establish a token reserve during his campaign last year. Last month, Trump signed an executive order requiring an assessment of the feasibility of creating a digital asset reserve. Against this backdrop, WLFI's initiative to establish a strategic reserve will undoubtedly strengthen market expectations for the "presidential selection" concept. By deeply binding with Trump's cryptocurrency policy, WLFI can not only create market expectations and attract more funds but may also facilitate off-market cooperation between the project and political capital, further expanding its market influence.

Risk Warning

Note: All cryptocurrency investments, including yield products, are highly speculative and involve significant risks. Past performance of products does not guarantee future results. The cryptocurrency market is highly volatile, and you should carefully assess whether trading or holding digital currencies is suitable based on your personal investment goals, financial situation, and risk tolerance, and consult a professional financial advisor before making any investment decisions. The information in this article is for reference only and does not constitute any investment, legal, or tax advice. The author and publisher do not bear any responsibility for any losses resulting from the use of the information in this article.