Trump's World Liberty crypto tokens to become tradeable
The World Liberty tokens, known as $WLFI, were sold to investors after the Trump family and their partners launched the venture — a "decentralised finance" platform that has also issued a stablecoin - last autumn. The tokens were not made tradeable at their initial sale. Instead, they gave holders a right to vote on some changes to the business, such as its underlying code. Early investors have said the primary draw of $WLFI was the connection to Trump and, in turn, their expectations the tokens would grow in value due to his backing.
Making the tokens tradeable would see investors determine their price, enabling speculation, earning trading fees for exchanges that list them and likely stoking interest from a wider swath of crypto investors.
The extent to which the Trump family, which reaps three-quarters of revenues from the initial sales of the tokens, will benefit from their wider trading is not clear.
Gains in the tokens' price would, however, swell the value of the family's token holdings, the exact level of which is unclear.
World Liberty and Trump's other crypto businesses have faced criticism from Democratic lawmakers and ethics experts as the president's administration reshapes regulations in the booming crypto sector.
Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren and Democratic Representative Maxine Waters sent a letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this year in which they said, "The Trump family's financial stake in World Liberty Financial represents an unprecedented conflict of interest with the potential to influence the Trump Administration's oversight—or lack thereof—of the cryptocurrency industry."
The World Liberty tokens have not been designated as securities by the SEC, meaning they are not subject to the same scrutiny as investments like stocks.
The White House has said Trump's assets are in a trust managed by his children and that there are no conflicts of interest.
The White House has not released the details of the trust arrangement. The Trump family business has been placed into a trust whose sole beneficiary is the president, meaning that the hundreds of millions of dollars from crypto deals struck while Trump is in office could hypothetically be withdrawn at any time, or at the latest, be at his disposal when he leaves office in less than four years.
Trump's company, DT Marks DEFI LLC, was set to receive 22.5 billion out of a total 100 billion $WLFI tokens, according to a description of the project released in October. The president held 15.75 billion of the tokens at the end of last year, according to a public financial disclosure report published last month.
The Trump family has made around $500 million from World Liberty since the platform was launched, according to Reuters calculations based on the company's terms and conditions, transactions traced by crypto analysis firms and publicly-disclosed deals.
Asked by Reuters how the vote would impact the value of $WLFI tokens held by Trump and his family, the White House press office said: "This is not an inquiry for the White House."
The Trump Organization did not respond to a request for comment.
In response to Reuters' questions about how the tokens will become tradable, a World Liberty spokesperson said: "Additional details are forthcoming." The venture says on its website that making $WLFI tradeable "brings us one step closer to building a more open, transparent, and powerful financial system."
"The American public should be very concerned about the president's vested interests in the cryptocurrency market," said Chris Swartz, a former longtime attorney at the U.S. government's Office of Government Ethics, including under both Trump administrations, who now serves as senior ethics counsel for Democracy Defenders Action, a legal advocacy group.
"Not only is it a potential conduit for foreign emoluments and other illicit payments, but it puts the president in competition against other cryptocurrency issuers at the same time he is advocating for digital asset marketplace legislation. That is a clear conflict of interest."
The World Liberty proposal to "formally initiate the tradability of the token," posted on its website on 9 July, was approved by 99.94% of around 20 900 votes.
Some voters cited expectations of price gains or support for Trump as reasons for their choice. "We invested to get rich," one wrote on the World Liberty website. "To make america great again," wrote another. The identities of nearly all holders are hidden behind wallet addresses.
A Milan-based person using the name Paolo, who declined to give his full name, told Reuters he had bought 95 000 $WLFI tokens for about $5 000. $WLFI tokens were sold in two initial tranches at $0.015 and $0.05. Paolo said he voted in favour of making the tokens tradeable and planned to hold the tokens until they reach $12. "Then I try to buy more when the price drops," he said.
The World Liberty proposal said the timing for making the tokens tradeable, and the eligibility requirements, would be determined at a later, unspecified date. Tokens held by World Liberty's founders, team and advisers would not be initially "unlocked" for trading and would be subject to a longer "unlock schedule," it said.
The implementation of approved proposals would "occur within a reasonable time from the passage of the applicable proposal,' according to the project description from October.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
22 minutes ago
- Yahoo
MetLife (MET) To Report Earnings Tomorrow: Here Is What To Expect
Global insurance giant MetLife (NYSE:MET) will be reporting results this Wednesday afternoon. Here's what investors should know. MetLife beat analysts' revenue expectations by 3% last quarter, reporting revenues of $18.83 billion, up 10.6% year on year. It was a slower quarter for the company, with a significant miss of analysts' book value per share estimates and a miss of analysts' EPS estimates. Is MetLife a buy or sell going into earnings? Read our full analysis here, it's free. This quarter, analysts are expecting MetLife's revenue to be flat year on year at $18.64 billion, in line with its flat revenue from the same quarter last year. Adjusted earnings are expected to come in at $2.16 per share. Analysts covering the company have generally reconfirmed their estimates over the last 30 days, suggesting they anticipate the business to stay the course heading into earnings. MetLife has missed Wall Street's revenue estimates four times over the last two years. Looking at MetLife's peers in the life insurance segment, some have already reported their Q2 results, giving us a hint as to what we can expect. Corebridge Financial delivered year-on-year revenue growth of 5.8%, beating analysts' expectations by 7.3%, and Lincoln Financial Group reported revenues up 4.4%, topping estimates by 1.1%. Lincoln Financial Group traded up 7.8% following the results. Read our full analysis of Corebridge Financial's results here and Lincoln Financial Group's results here. Debates around the economy's health and the impact of potential tariffs and corporate tax cuts have caused much uncertainty in 2025. While some of the life insurance stocks have shown solid performance in this choppy environment, the group has generally underperformed, with share prices down 2.9% on average over the last month. MetLife is down 5.3% during the same time and is heading into earnings with an average analyst price target of $94.14 (compared to the current share price of $75). Unless you've been living under a rock, it should be obvious by now that generative AI is going to have a huge impact on how large corporations do business. While Nvidia and AMD are trading close to all-time highs, we prefer a lesser-known (but still profitable) semiconductor stock benefiting from the rise of AI. Click here to access our free report on our favorite semiconductor growth story. StockStory is growing and hiring equity analyst and marketing roles. Are you a 0 to 1 builder passionate about the markets and AI? See the open roles here.
Yahoo
22 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Most ethics complaints filed against NM lawmakers resolved quietly
Aug. 4—SANTA FE — The recent internal ethics investigation into top Senate Democrat Mimi Stewart marked the first time in years that a complaint against a New Mexico lawmaker led to a public hearing. But there have been no shortage of filed complaints. With the exception of the complaint against Stewart, all other allegations of misconduct filed against lawmakers in the last five years — there have been a total of 17 — were quietly resolved without any details being publicly released, according to legislative records. Some of the complaints that date back to January 2020 were dismissed following an internal investigation, while others were informally settled or withdrawn. The recent trends have prompted some current and former legislators to say flaws in the system need fixing. Former state Sen. Mark Moores, a Republican who stepped down last year, said New Mexico's current legislative ethics system is tainted by partisan politics. "The system is working as intended, because the system was set up so leadership could still retain control," Moores said . He said the system should be changed to more closely model the congressional ethics system, which features an independent, nonpartisan office that reviews allegations of misconduct against members of Congress and staffers. The public currently lacks confidence in New Mexico's legislative ethics system, Moores added, in large part because leading legislators function as gatekeepers of sorts who determine whether complaints filed against lawmakers should move forward. "You're never going to have a fair hearing against anyone in leadership because they appoint their cronies," he said. Sen. Katy Duhigg, D-Albuquerque, said lawmakers have struggled to find the right balance between transparency and protecting themselves from possible politically-driven complaints. "I think each time we see this process used, we see areas that need improvement," said Duhigg, who chairs the Senate Rules Committee. She said she would support changes to the legislative ethics system such as simplifying the wording of ethics policies and protocols, along with mandatory mediation to try to resolve complaints involving legislators and staffers. "I think we are on the right road, but there is room for improvement," Duhigg said. A recent history of tie votes The complaint against Stewart, the Senate's president pro tem since 2021, was filed by a legislative staffer in February after the veteran lawmaker allegedly shouted at her during a heated moment during this year's 60-day legislative session. After an initial panel of lawmakers found probable cause existed to advance the complaint, a legislative ethics hearing subcommittee recommended last week the complaint against Stewart be dismissed. But the recommendation was made via a party-line 4-3 vote, with retired state Supreme Court Justice Richard Bosson siding with the subcommittee's three Senate Democrats. The three Senate Republicans appointed to the panel voted against dismissing the complaint, while maintaining that sanctions should be imposed in the case. The presence of a retired judge or attorney on the subcommittee was due to a 2022 rule change that was intended to allow for tie votes to be broken, said Randall Cherry, the Legislative Council Service's assistant director for legislative affairs. Before that change was made, several internal ethics probes stalled due to tie votes, according to legislators familiar with the investigations. Transparency issues and concerns One of the reasons the public is left in the dark about most legislative ethics investigations is the existence of confidentiality provisions in both state law and the Legislature's anti-harassment policy. Specifically, the policy stipulates that harassment complaints and documents related to any investigation shall be kept confidential, even under New Mexico's public records law. The confidentiality provision was challenged in a 2022 lawsuit filed by a lobbyist who had accused then-Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto of sexual harassment. But the lawsuit was dismissed a year later. Amanda Lavin, the legal director of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, said citizen complaints are generally required to be made public under a Court of Appeals ruling. She also said the open government group believes any disciplinary action taken by the Legislature against its own members should be public information. But Lavin also pointed out the Legislature is not subject to New Mexico's Open Meetings Act, and state law allows legislators to hold certain types of meetings behind closed doors. "There are a lot of things they can discuss in private and then not even have to disclose what was discussed," Lavin said. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
22 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Republicans make gains in New Mexico voter registration, including in Santa Fe County
While New Mexico remains solidly blue territory, Republicans continue to make gains in the state's voter registration rolls. The GOP even added more voters in Santa Fe County, one of the most liberal and Democratic-performing areas in the state. Granted, the 5.8% year-over-year increase in registered Republicans in Santa Fe County equates to only about 1,000 voters, but it reflects a statewide trend. The number of registered Republicans across New Mexico grew from 421,653 in July 2024 to 436,647 last month, an increase of nearly 15,000 voters, according to the latest voter registration data. At the same time, Democrats lost just over 11,000 voters. Despite Republicans' gains, the proportion of voters in each major political party remains relatively flat in the state, with Democrats accounting for about 43% of the electorate and Republicans 32% — although, the GOP added a percentage point and Democrats lost one. The increase in Republican voters may reflect a Democratic Party struggling to find its message, Brian Sanderoff, an Albuquerque political analyst and respected pollster, said Monday. "I think the Democratic Party is trying to find its way, especially at the national level, and that can impact voter registration statistics," he added. The Republican Party of New Mexico started the year with the ambitious goal of registering 25,000 new voters, and Sanderoff said it has been doing a good job registering voters at the "grassroots level." The party's executive director, Leticia Muñoz, said everything the party does revolves around voter outreach. "RPNM takes great pride in the work being done by grassroots volunteers to register voters around the state over the last 5 years," she said in a statement. Muñoz also credits the commander in chief. "President [Donald] Trumps' policies continue to benefit New Mexicans greatly, which is another reason we're seeing many voters registering Republican," she said. A spokesperson for the Democratic Party of New Mexico downplayed the increase in registered Republicans. "There is a significantly smaller number of Republicans in New Mexico anyway, so any percentage change will look more dramatic than the reality of the total numbers," Daniel Garcia said in a statement. "I suppose the New Mexico GOP has to spin something to look like good news," he added. "They're obviously in a tough place trying to explain why voters should support quid pro quo immunity deals for child predator Ghislaine Maxwell and the GOP's signature accomplishment — their unpopular 'Big Beautiful Bill' that will close hospitals, eliminate health care coverage, and take away food assistance right here in New Mexico. Not to mention they'll have to explain to voters why they think tariffs, inflation, and privatizing Social Security will make us 'great again.' ' Voter registration data shows a slight increase in independent or "decline-to-state" voters, a number that grew from 315,772 to 320,988. The percentage of unaffiliated voters has been rising over the past decade and a half, a trend that will likely continue after New Mexico adopted a "semi-open primary" system, which allows voters who don't state a party affiliation to cast a ballot in a Democratic or Republican primary without changing their registration. In the state's most populous counties — Bernalillo, Doña Ana and Santa Fe, which are crucial in a statewide race — Democrats have a comfortable edge over Republicans. In those three counties combined, there are 324,152 registered Democrats and 177,070 registered Republicans. Independents are closing in on Republicans, though. The data show 168,351 "decline-to-state" voters in those three counties. Muñoz said Republicans are intent on gaining even more ground. "RPNM will continue our goal to flip New Mexico," she said, adding it's taken six to eight years to flip other blue states red. Asked whether Republicans' gains would affect the governor's race next year, Sanderoff said changes in voter registration are used to measure the direction of the state, but he noted Democrats maintain an advantage. "If you're consistently seeing Republicans make voter registration gains and Democrats stagnating on voter registration statistics, that is a barometer that one looks at to measure the political mood," he said. "It can be a predictor, but it's all relative, and you still have the lopsided voter registration edge that the Democrats have in terms of the actual numbers."
