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Former President Donald Trump forays into decentralized finance (DeFi) with his initiative, Global financial freedomhas officially begun onboarding users, and the public sale of its WLFI token is scheduled to take place on October 15.
This announcement comes as the project aims to raise $300 million at a $1.5 billion valuation through its initial token offering, which has received significant attention in the cryptocurrency community.
Trump DeFi Initiative
In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), World Liberty Financial Announce The public sale will be open to qualified individuals through the whitelist process. The governance token, WLFI, will have a non-transferable status for the first 12 months, although its holders will be allowed to participate in voting on platform decisions immediately.
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The project’s initial phase involves launching a DeFi lending platform, similar to Aave, on Scroll, an Ethereum Layer 2 solution. It will initially support Bitcoin, Ethereum, and stablecoins, with future plans to offer a stablecoin-focused credit card, and facilitate integration with exchanges for seamless asset transfers, and segmentation of real-world assets such as hotels and clubs.
World Liberty Financial is being presented as a key component of Trump’s vision to “Make America Great Again, this time with cryptocurrencies.” Initiative Objectives To position the United States as a leading global cryptocurrency hub, enhancing financial security and enabling peer-to-peer transactions without intermediaries through decentralized finance.
However, specific functionality and a final launch date for the platform have not yet been announced.
Interestingly, the project’s initial white paper includes a disclaimer stating that World Liberty Financial “is not owned, operated, managed, or sold” by the Trump family, although it notes that they may acquire compensation From the initiative. This disclaimer is intended to clarify the project structure amidst ongoing scrutiny.
Does political polarization await us?
The launch of World Liberty Financial has raised expectations among investors, but has also raised eyebrows within the cryptocurrency community, particularly among industry leaders like Charles Hoskinson, co-founder of the Ethereum and Cardano blockchains.
Hoskinson has Express Fears that Trump’s decentralized finance project could become a “political flashpoint,” exacerbating existing tensions surrounding cryptocurrency regulation in the United States under the Biden administration.
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Hoskinson also warned that the political polarization surrounding Trump could spark a backlash from Democrats that could threaten the viability of the initiative.
The Cardano founder noted that if Democrats view Trump’s decentralized finance project as a major threat, they may leverage government power to impose… Restrictionswhich could push many cryptocurrency projects offshore to jurisdictions with more favorable regulations.
Despite his concerns, Hoskinson acknowledged that it had attracted influential investors and backers. However, he remains skeptical about whether this support will translate into effective policy changes should Trump regain power.
Featured image of DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com