Trump's World Liberty Financial: 2025 purchase?

Trump's World Liberty Financial: 2025 purchase? Yes, on January 23, 2025, it was reported that World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a decentralized finance (DeFi) project linked to President Donald Trump, made another significant cryptocurrency purchase. The company has been actively investing in various digital assets, leading to considerable attention and discussion within the crypto community and raising some ethical questions.

Recent Purchases and Holdings

On January 23, 2025, WLFI purchased $9.8 million worth of wrapped bitcoin (WBTC). This purchase occurred just days after the company acquired $2.6 million worth of Tron’s TRX. The company had planned a $2.65 million TRX purchase for that week.

• WBTC Purchase: $9.8 million
• TRX Holdings: WLFI also holds $7.5 million in TRX.

Total Crypto Holdings

As of January 2025, World Liberty Financial's total crypto holdings were valued at $352 million. The breakdown of these holdings includes:

• Ethereum (ETH): $181 million
• Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC): $56 million
• Staked Ether (STETH): $32 million
• Tron (TRX): $7.4 million

WLFI Token Sale

The purchases coincided with the final stages of the WLFI token sale. As of January 2025, only 2.4 billion tokens out of the total 25 billion were still available for purchase. The project has raised a total of $1.1 billion since the sale began in September of the previous year.

Justin Sun's Involvement

Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, has also been a significant participant in the WLFI ecosystem. He previously purchased $30 million worth of WLFI tokens in November. Sun expressed enthusiasm about WLFI integrating TRON as a key part of its treasury, highlighting trust in the Tron blockchain network. Sun believes the pro-crypto stance of the Trump administration will lead the United States to become a major hub for innovation and cryptocurrency adoption.

Justin Sun speaks at Consensus. Credit: www.coindesk.com

Inauguration Commemoration

World Liberty Financial stated that these purchases were made to commemorate President Trump’s inauguration. The company had bought $47 million of [wrapped] BTC and $47 million of BTC to celebrate his inauguration as 47th President of the United States of America.

Other Notable Holdings

Besides ETH, WBTC, and TRX, WLFI also holds significant amounts of other cryptocurrencies:

• USDC: $55.6 million
• Aave (AAVE): $6.9 million
• Chainlink (LINK): $6.2 million

Ethical Considerations

The association between President Trump and World Liberty Financial has raised ethical concerns. Some experts worry about potential conflicts of interest, influence over the administration, and the dangers associated with Trump's involvement in crypto ventures. Trump has licensed out his name to sell everything from steaks to condos to real estate courses, such as at the now-defunct Trump University.

Justin Sun’s purchase into an entity where Trump directly benefits financially has raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest and ethics due to Tron’s alleged use by militant groups and pending charges against him by U.S. securities regulators.

Legal and Regulatory Landscape

Ethics experts have noted that while federal rules prohibit executive branch employees from being involved in policy issues that will affect their financial interests, that law does not apply to the president or vice president.