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Author: Angus Berwick, Source: Wall Street Journal, Translated by: Shaw Bitchain Vision
The Trump family increased their books by as much as $5 billion after their flagship cryptocurrency business began trading a new digital currency on Monday.
The offering is similar to an initial public offering (IPO), after which the cryptocurrency called WLFI can be bought and sold on the public market like the stock of a listed company.
Previously, those who bought WLFI privately from Trump-owned company World Liberty Financial were unable to trade their tokens.
The deal debut is likely to be the biggest financial success Trump has achieved since he took office as president.The Trump family, including Trump himself, holds nearly a quarter of the total amount of WLFI tokens.Trump’s three sons are co-founders of World Liberty Financial, and Trump himself was awarded the title of “Honorary Co-Founder” by the company.
World Liberty Financial co-founders, including Eric Trump, rang the Nasdaq opening bell last month
World Liberty Financial said the tokens of founders and team members are still in a “lockdown” state, meaning they are still unable to sell the tokens.However, after this transaction is launched, their holdings will be valued in real terms, which were previously based on private equity transactions.
WLFI is likely the most valuable asset of the Trump family now, surpassing their decades-old real estate portfolio.Although his family has been seeking real estate deals around the world since Trump entered the White House, the rapidly growing cryptocurrency business has had its biggest impact.
Trump helped launch the World Liberty Financial project a year ago during his campaign, saying it would help “make America great again, this time with cryptocurrency.”
This year, the rise of the World Liberty Financial project comes as Trump is at the White House pushing the development of the crypto industry, strengthening regulation and vigorously promoting the potential of private digital currencies to revitalize the U.S. economy.
Prior to WLFI’s listing deal, World Liberty Financial acquired a public company this summer and raised $750 million in cash from investors to buy cryptocurrencies.
The Wall Street Journal previously reported that the deal was an abnormal cycle of transactions with the same party as both a buyer and a seller, and the Trump family is expected to make about $500 million in profits because they can earn up to 75% of the revenue from token sales.
According to data website CoinMarketCap, WLFI’s trading volume on cryptocurrency exchanges surged earlier on Monday local time in the United States, with about $1 billion in tokens changing hands within an hour.
At Binance, WLFI trades at about 30 cents before gradually falling to around 20 cents throughout the day, roughly the same price range as the cryptocurrency-related futures contracts traded on the exchange last week.At higher prices, the Trump family holds shares worth more than $6 billion.
Including shares in other cryptocurrencies, the total amount of cryptocurrencies held by the Trump family is even larger.The entities associated with Trump control about 80% of the so-called “Meme” Trump, worth billions of dollars.
A trust fund owned by Trump holds a little more than half of the shares of the listed company Trump Media Technology Group, which operates Trump’s Truth Social platform and buys and holds cryptocurrencies.The shares are worth approximately $2.5 billion.
To be sure, cashing in on these newly created wealth can be difficult, as even a small amount of cryptocurrency sell-offs can trigger price drops.
WLFI was priced well above the 1.5 cents price last year when investors initially bought the token from World Liberty Financial, which provided them with a big opportunity to make a fortune.World Liberty Financial said these early buyers could only trade one-fifth of their holdings initially.
Cryptocurrencies have always fluctuated dramatically, which means Trump’s wealth scale may fluctuate significantly.The Meme coin Trump launched in January this year initially soared, then plummeted.
World Liberty Financial critics say the organization has the potential to be a tool to influence the Trump family, and its development is driven by partners and investors seeking help from the White House.For example, the Wall Street Journal previously reported that the USD1 market for the US dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial is largely supported by Binance.
“The president and his family have never been involved and will not be involved in any conflict of interest in the future,” White House press secretary Caroline Levitt said.
World Liberty Financial is a completely private enterprise and does not get involved in politics, although “President Trump is clearly the greatest president of all time,” Zach Witkoff, the son of World Liberty Financial, said last week.
World Liberty Financial said the long-term value of its cryptocurrency will be underpinned by its plan to become a key player in the industry.In addition to the release of USD1, the company plans to launch a mobile app.”This is not a Meme coin,” Donald Trump Jr. tweeted shortly after the release.
Tad Tobar, chief operating officer of cryptocurrency company Lorenzo Protocol, said the company has reached a partnership with World Liberty Financial, which plans to buy and hold WLFI tokens that give holders voting rights to some of World Liberty’s operations, the so-called governance rights, but does not have the right to distribute its profits.
“Its endurance is real because it is designed as the governance token for this newly opened economy,” Tobar said.
