The widely awaited native token of Donald Trump’s novel crypto project – World Liberty Financial – was launched on Tuesday after weeks of waiting.

The WLFI cryptocurrency went on sale and immediately harnessed the media’s attention. However, the initial coin offering (ICO) was plagued with technical issues while initial sales came below the project’s targets.

The World Liberty Financial website was impacted by outages and bugs that prevented users from buying the token throughout the day. Some investors reported that they were greeted with a “We are under maintenance” message while trying to buy WLFI.

Sandy Peng, a WLFI advisor, attributed the outages to unexpected levels of interest. Speaking to CoinDesk, Peng revealed that the website received a staggering 72 million unique visits in the first hour after the token launch. “The team wasn’t expecting this level of interest,” she explained.

Despite these challenges, the token attracted a significant number of investors. Data from Etherscan indicated that, by Tuesday afternoon, a total of 5,300 unique wallet addresses held WLFI tokens while over 500 million units had been sold at an average price of $0.015 per coin resulting in $8 million in proceeds.

Although not necessarily negative, these figures were disappointing compared to the project’s ambitious goal of selling 20 billion WLFI tokens or 20% of its total supply. The platform hoped to attract at least $300 million from early adopters at a $1.5 billion valuation.

Yesterday’s sales represented just 3% of all the available tokens that will be offered to the public.

Earlier this week, the co-founder of the project, Zachary Folkman, told CNBC that “well over 100,000 people” had signed up to buy WLFI tokens. Only a small fraction of those people have followed through so far.

Trump Promotes WLFI Token and Prompts Followers to Buy

The WLFI cryptocurrency will serve as the governance token for the World Liberty Financial decentralized finance protocol. Users will be able to engage in borrowing, lending, and other similar activities through the platform.

The token has been designed as a non-transferable asset that give the holder voting rights and the possibility of proposing changes for the protocol. All WLFI tokens will be indenfinitely locked in a wallet or smart contract.

According to the project’s roadmap, which was reportedly viewed by journalists from the crypto-specialized online magazine The Block, the Trump family will receive a 20% allocation of WLFI tokens that they will spread among the founding team. This kind of large token allocation to founders isn’t exactly unheard of but it’s certainly not a good sign for the token. If the family wants to cash out, the price of the token will undoubtedly crash if they sell a meaningful amount of their stake.

In regards to its utility, the protocol’s “gold paper” says that WLFI “plans to provide users with information and access to third-party DeFi applications, including third party digital wallet providers for acquiring, holding, and transferring stable coins, and non-security digital assets.”

The digital asset is being offered as a Regulation D type of asset, which means that it can only be acquired by accredited investors and has not been registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. However, the gold paper states that WLFI tokens are not available to US residents.

Donald Trump has been actively promoting the project on social media, posting on X (formerly Twitter) on the day of the launch: “Today’s the day! @WorldLibertyFi token sale is live. Get your $WLFI tokens now.”

Meanwhile, his sons are part of the leadership team. Barron, the youngest of Donald’s male heirs, was appointed “DeFi Visionary” while Donald Trump Jr. and Eric have received the title of “Web3 Ambassadors.”

The former President’s popularity is perhaps the most important asset for the project as, other than that, it fails to offer anything that can be considered innovative in a space that is already crowded with borrowing and lending protocols.

Few Details Are Known About How World Liberty Financial Will Work

Details about how World Liberty Financial will operate are still scarce. Thus far, the project’s leaders and backers have only shared their mission and principles. They claim that the platform will be a “one-stop-shop for DeFi across the globe.”

The word “stablecoin” has been mentioned multiple times, which means that the protocol may serve as a place to deal with assets like USDT and USDC.

However, the setbacks that the project experienced yesterday during the launch of WLFI have raised questions about its technical robustness and ability to scale.

Critics have pointed out the absence of a comprehensive white paper or formal business plan available to the public, which is a common practice in the web3 space.

Bankless, a crypto industry publication, commented on the troubled launch: “Despite the excitement surrounding Trump’s involvement, World Liberty Financial’s launch has stumbled so far due to technical difficulties and underwhelming sales.”

The author added: “Whether the project can overcome skepticism and regain momentum remains to be seen, but the rocky start is a reminder that high-profile backers aren’t a guarantee for success in DeFi.” The project was also held back by its extremely vague and secretive launch. We still don’t really know what exactly the platform will enable or what the token will be used for beyond governance, if anything.

The launch of World Liberty Financial has provided additional evidence that Trump is acquainted with and supportive of the industry. It is unclear if the platform is considered a political move aimed at persuading younger audiences about his ability to stay current with technological trends or if it’s just another cash grab (or both).

Reports have pointed that the project may have been a response to the ambitions of his younger son, Barron, who has been reportedly involve in the issuances of shady meme coins lately.

Some other notable steps taken by Trump to strengthen the perception that he is a crypto-savvy candidate include headlining the world’s largest Bitcoin conference earlier in 2024, launching his fourth collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in August 2024, and appealing to the crypto community as part of his presidential campaign strategy.

These efforts suggest that the real estate billionaire sees potential in blockchain technology and digital assets, both as business opportunities and as a means to connect with a tech-savvy voter base.

Overcoming Technical Difficulties During the ICO is Just the Tip of the Iceberg

Considering this rocky start, the future of World Liberty Financial remains uncertain. The project’s ability to overcome its initial challenges and deliver on its promises will be crucial to assess its odds of long-term success.

Meanwhile, these technical issues are just the tip of the iceberg as the user interface has not been seen by the public yet while details on the inner workings of the platform have not been provided either.

This is hardly the norm in the crypto space where transparency and decentralization are highly valued. Moreover, the massive token allocation that the Trump family will receive from its involvement in WLFI also calls into question the motives behind the launch.

Finally, regulatory compliance and the platform’s ability to operate in the United States – a natural market for Trump and his fan base – are also obstacles that the project needs to overcome to establish itself as a dominant force in this heavily competed space.

The launch of World Liberty Financial’s WLFI token marks a significant, if turbulent, entry of Donald Trump and his family into the world of decentralized finance. While the project has generated considerable interest and boasts high-profile backers, its initial technical difficulties and sales performance highlight the challenges of launching a major crypto venture.

The launch of the WLFI token is another step forward for the project but does not provide any additional clarity about its prospects and technical readiness to investors and the crypto community.

As the dust settles following its launch day, several questions remain about World Liberty Financial’s long-term viability and impact on the DeFi landscape.