World Liberty Financial, the latest crypto venture from the former president of the US Donald Trump has been officially launched and users can already register to open an account as long as they meet certain criteria.

In the case of US-based users, they would have to qualify as accredited investors, which means that they must have a minimum worth of $1 million or an annual income of $200,000 individuals or $300,000 with their spouse.

Meanwhile, non-US users can sign up without restrictions apart from providing some basic personal information to complete their registration.

This KYC protocol and financial requirements may be critical to the success of WLF as the bulk of crypto investors are probably individuals with a much lower net worth or financial status – and that may be especially true for Trump supporters, who are the most likely to join the platform at first.

The WLFI token will power the platform and will be used to cover transaction fees. According to the project’s whitepaper, 63% of the token’s total supply will be sold to the public while 17% will be set apart for user rewards. Insiders will keep 20% of the total WLF tokens minted (which is a lot).

The (claimed) goal of WLF is to drive widespread adoption of decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions and stablecoins. The platform is reportedly built on the AAVE blockchain.

Although specific details about the project’s inner workings are scarce, it is supposedly designed to replace the role that traditional financial institutions have as intermediaries to lend and borrow money.

According to reports from Coindesk, the app is quite similar to Dough Finance based on similarities shared by WLF and a hacked DeFi project named Dough Finance.

Trump Family Promises to Use DeFi to Help “The Average American”

Both Trump himself and members of his family have said that World Liberty Financial aims to democratize access to banking products for “the average American” and reduce the power that “the big banks and financial elites” have over the general public. These claims fall flat when you remember that it’s only available to accredited investors in the US. The average salary in the US is just under $60,000 in 2024 so very few, if any, “average Americans” will be able to use the platform.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump Jr. emphasized in teaser posts on X and interviews that the project aimed to help the unbanked gain access to financial services that were otherwise restricted due to geographical constraints or government policy. This could theoretically help people without access to banks outside of the US, but it’s hard to imagine that many accredited investors are unbanked.

World Liberty Financial was first teased in early August when both Donald Jr. and Eric took to X to promote an upcoming venture that would supposedly shake things up in the DeFi world.

According to Trump, he is “planning to help make America the crypto capital of the world.”

The family’s involvement represents a significant shift in Trump’s views on cryptocurrencies, as he moved from previous skepticism to the point that he described Bitcoin as a “scam,” to now fully embrace blockchain technologies.

This change appears to have been influenced by the success of his NFT trading card collection in 2022, which sold out within a day and generated nearly $5 million in sales. Since then, Trump has increasingly courted blockchain entrepreneurs and even participated in and gave a speech during the Bitcoin conference in Nashville in July 2024.

WLF Can Only Be Accessed by “The Elite” For Now

Regulatory and ethical concerns have been brought up as a result of the launch of World Liberty Financial as there are clear conflicts of interest for a major candidate in this year’s US presidential election.

It is highly unusual for a presidential candidate to promote business ventures just days ahead of the election and that has raised the eyebrows of lawmakers and regulators.

Meanwhile, the platform also has to comply with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), an agency that has repeatedly taken a hostile approach to regulating the space, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Also read: Trump Family X Accounts Hacked to Promote Crypto Scam

Critics argue that people may be helping Trump and investing in these projects, most of which are a bit far-fetched, just to gain influence over the potential future president while Trump could ultimately push regulators to give these companies, individuals, or even foreign countries a nod once in office.

This kind of tactic is not new for Trump as he is well-known for offering blatant quid-pro-quo deals to various industries and billionaires. For example, he asked for a $1 billion donation in a meeting with oil and gas executives, reportedly offering preferential treatment in return.

The investigative journalism outfit TheLever published a fantastic series of podcast episodes called The Master Plan, detailing the effective legalization of blatant bribery and corruption in the US, if you’re interested in learning more.

What seems clear is that Trump is not respecting any boundaries to raise money for his campaign as reflected by these bold moves.

From Bibles to Watches, Trump Sells Whatever He Can to Raise Money

Apart from WLF, Trump has been promoting a wide range of products, both digital and physical, to shore up his (and his campaign’s) finances. The most recent example is a line of Trump-branded watches that sell from $499 to as much as $100,000 for a limited edition called Trump Victory Tourbillion. He claims that they are made in Switzerland but watch experts believe that at least some parts of the watches are made in China.

Alongside, Trump has sold silver coins for $100 apiece, Bibles priced at $60, which have reportedly generated over $300,000 in sales to date, and eccentric sneakers selling for nearly $400 a pair.

Meanwhile, in the digital realm, Trump successfully sold a collection of NFT trading cards that netted him at least $100,000 to $1 million according to his campaign’s financial disclosures. However, the wallet used to sell the NFTs has netted over $3.1 million of ETH from the sale.

Trump seems to be ready to ignore these ethical questions and extract as much money as possible from his huge fan base to win the upcoming election.

Trump’s fortune may have dropped significantly, largely due to a significant drop in the valuation of Trump Media & Technology Group – the parent company of his very own version of Twitter, Truth Social.

A report from CNN published in early August indicated that the value of Trump’s stake in this company was slashed by $900 million since the former Vice President Kamala Harris entered the presidential race. The company brings in almost $0 revenue and is spending far too much money to become profitable anytime soon.

Despite this drop, the former president still boasts a net worth of $5.9 billion according to data from Bloomberg. The real number may be even higher due to private deals such as his suspect agreement with Saudi Arabia-owned LIV Golf.

World Liberty Financial Will Need to Step Up Its Game to Appeal to DeFi Users

World Liberty Financial still has to prove that it can attract people from various corners of the world, gain their trust, and provide the kind of user experience that they may not enjoy elsewhere to stand out from other – more well-established – platforms that offer exactly the same that they do in the DeFi space.

The project has stated its vision to help the average American by providing them with access to financial services that were previously out of reach. However, for now, it will only cater to high-net-worth individuals.

The success or failure of World Liberty Financial could have significant implications for Trump’s financial and political future as this has been a heavily-touted and promoted platform.

Also read: How to Invest in DeFi in 2024: A Step-by-Step Guide

“Crypto’s just one of those things we have to do, whether we like it or not,” Trump commented recently.

The launch of World Liberty Financial represents a bold move in this direction but ethical issues continue to be the elephant in the room that hasn’t been addressed. What will happen if Trump wins? What the future may be for all of these ventures that he currently endorses?

This whole WLF saga highlights the delicate tension and potential conflicts of interest that emerge when a presidential candidate is also a prominent businessperson.