Donald Trump’s crypto project World Liberty Financial will launch on Sept. 16, the former president and 2024 Republican presidential nominee announced.
In a Sept. 12 video posted on X, Trump said he would go live on the platform to launch the project, which will be controlled by his sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump.
“We’re embracing the future with crypto and leaving the slow and outdated big banks behind,” he said.
.@WorldLibertyFi pic.twitter.com/rHEGQXl4jL
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 12, 2024
Trump has previously made several cryptic posts concerning World Liberty Financial, vaguely positioning it as a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform for borrowing and lending.
A white paper reported that the project would allow users to store money in a digital wallet, offer a credit account system, borrow or lend cash to others, and use tokens to invest in assets like crypto.
A nontransferable governance token has also been mentioned as part of the platform.
Statements from World Liberty Financial have also suggested it wants to spread the use of US dollar-pegged stablecoins in DeFi.
Along with bullish comments about stablecoins, the project has teased a partnership and collaboration with DeFi protocol Aave, possibly indicating World Liberty Financial will be built on the Ethereum blockchain.
Trump has secured strong support within the crypto community since promising to support the industry if again elected president in November.
He has pledged clearer regulations and said he would fire Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler, who has undertaken enforcement actions against multiple large crypto firms.
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Sentiment around World Liberty Financial has been mixed. Some question Trump’s decision to launch the project while also running for president, as the project is set to go live 50 days before the election.
Nic Carter, a Trump supporter and partner at Castle Island Ventures, told Politico on Sept. 6 that the project was a “huge mistake.”
“It looks like Trump’s inner circle is just cashing in on his recent embrace of crypto in a kind of naive way,” he said. “Frankly it looks like they’re burning a lot of the goodwill that’s been built with the industry so far.”
Those linked to the venture have faced an onslaught from hackers and scammers.
Scammers also managed to hack Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump and his daughter Tiffany Trump’s X accounts on Sept. 4, posting sham links claiming to be connected to World Liberty Financial.
Source: World Liberty Financial
On Aug. 30, the official World Liberty Financial Telegram group had to denounce a series of fake ads and giveaways attempting to profit from the hype around the project.
On Aug. 8, Eric Trump had to clarify that a Restore the Republic (RTR) memecoin was not affiliated with World Liberty Financial after it surged $155 million within hours of its debut.
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