A decentralized finance (DeFi) initiative, supported by the Trump family, has successfully wrapped up its second public token sale, raising $250 million from investors.
The project, WLFI, was launched on September 16, 2024, with an aim to advance DeFi and stablecoins linked to the US dollar. It has received backing from former President Donald Trump and his sons — Eric, Donald Jr., and Barron — who tout it as a pathway toward financial innovation and a move away from conventional banking.
To date, the initiative has secured approximately $550 million by selling 25% of its total token supply. Its initial token offering, which commenced on October 15, 2024, generated around $300 million by offering 20 billion WLFI tokens at a price of $0.015 each.
On January 20, the organization announced another token sale “in response to strong demand and significant interest,” making available 5 billion tokens at $0.05 each — marking a 230% increase from the first sale. This sale, concluded on March 14, successfully reaching its goal of $250 million.
WLFI has raised over $590 million since launch
Before the public sales took place, the project had already piqued the interest of several crypto leaders. On November 25, 2024, Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, revealed a $30 million investment in WLFI. According to Etherscan data, Sun received 2 billion WLFI tokens in exchange at $0.015 each.
On January 27, the investment platform Web3Port announced a $10 million investment in the digital currency project. The company indicated plans for further investments and is considering a “long-term partnership” with the DeFi initiative.
On February 11, venture capital firm Oddiyana Ventures declared a strategic investment in the project. However, details about the size of the investment were not revealed.
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WLFI faces skepticism regarding legitimacy and business model
While the company has amassed over half a billion dollars, some voices within the crypto community have expressed doubts about whether it represents true innovation or simply constitutes another money grab.
In a post on X, Mike Dudas, managing partner at 6MV, described the initiative as a “pay-to-play” scheme rather than a genuine DeFi gateway meant to onboard new users into the crypto space.
Andre Cronje, creator of Yearn.finance and co-founder of Sonic Labs, has also raised concerns about the high fees and reinvestment strategies employed by the company. He asserted that WLFI appears to extract value from other crypto firms instead of offering meaningful utility.
WLFI has not publicly responded to these criticisms.
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