A draft white paper recently obtained reveals that World Liberty Financial is reserving 70% of its WLFI governance tokens for insiders, including the founders, team members, and service providers. This distribution significantly contrasts with the project’s stated goals of democratizing finance and benefiting ordinary users.
Token Distribution Details
World Liberty Financial, championed by former U.S. President Donald Trump and his sons, is promoted as an innovative financial platform aimed at reforming what they describe as a “rigged” financial system. However, the draft white paper suggests a different reality.
According to the report from CoinDesk, a substantial majority of WLFI tokens will be held by a select group of insiders, with only 30% available for public sale. Additionally, a portion of the public sale proceeds will also benefit these insiders, while the remainder will be allocated to support project operations.
An advisor to early-stage ventures, when asked about the insider allocation, dismissed the issue as a “joke,” reflecting a potential disconnect between the project’s public claims and its actual token distribution.
Comparison with Other Blockchain Projects
This allocation model contrasts sharply with those of other major blockchain projects. For example, Ethereum’s Genesis block allocated around 16.6% of its ether (ETH) to early contributors, Cardano reserved approximately 20% of its ADA tokens, and Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, is estimated to hold about 5% of the total supply.
World Liberty Financial’s team is reportedly still working on finalizing the tokenomics, suggesting that adjustments may be forthcoming.
Non-Transferable Tokens
Additionally, WLFI tokens will be non-transferable. This restriction means that once purchased, the tokens cannot be traded or transferred, a precaution aimed at avoiding potential securities law issues. The white paper states these tokens will be locked in a wallet or smart contract indefinitely, with any future release dependent on compliance with legal standards.
Purchasers will also be screened to ensure they are not on sanction lists, though the white paper mistakenly references FinCEN instead of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for this process.
Security Issues
The project has also been targeted by scammers, with recent hacks affecting the social media accounts of Lara Trump and Tiffany Trump. These accounts were used to promote a fraudulent token falsely associated with World Liberty Financial.
As World Liberty Financial evolves, the heavy insider allocation and the non-transferability of WLFI tokens are likely to continue to generate significant discussion and scrutiny within the crypto community.
