Donald Trump’s stance on crypto has shifted from 2019 skepticism to a mix of policy support and increased personal exposure. In office, he advanced the GENIUS Act (stablecoin framework), stood up a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, enabled digital-asset investments in 401k, and created a White House unit to coordinate digital-asset policy. In parallel, the family moved from early experiments (e.g., Trump NFTs) to active ventures across tokens, DeFi, mining, and infrastructure—most notably $TRUMP memecoin, World Liberty Financial ($WLFI), crypto mining company American Bitcoin (Nasdaq: ABTC)—signaling a sustained, multi-pronged engagement with the sector.

The most important of the Trump family’s crypto ventures is arguably World Liberty Financial, announced in late 2024 as a DeFi platform spanning stablecoins, lending, tokenization, and exchange infrastructure. Its token ($WLFI), listed on September 1, currently boasts a ~$20 billion fully diluted valuation (FDV)—surpassing all major DeFi protocols—an outcome the market wasn’t pricing in during its presale launch. The first presale (October 15, 2024) targeted $300 million at a $1.5 billion FDV but sold only $14 million by month-end (5%), prompting a reduction to a $30 million target. Momentum flipped after Trump’s election win. Sentiment and traffic rebounded and the raise cleared $50 million by end of November (catalyzed by Justin Sun’s initial $30 million contribution) and surpassed 20k holders. By January 2025, Round 1 closed above $300 million (20% of supply), supported by strategic investors including Justin Sun ($75 million), crypto market maker DWF Labs ($25 million), Web3Port ($10 million), and Aqua1 ($100 million). WLFI extended with a Round 2 priced at a $5 billion FDV, which sold out by March 2025, raising another ~$250 million. In total, WLFI raised >$550 million with over 85k participants. In addition, WLFI also completed a cash-and-stock transaction with Alt5 Sigma (Nasdaq: ALT5), transferring ~7–7.5% of supply for consideration valued around ~$1.5 billion. Taken together, WLFI ranks among the largest DeFi launches by funds raised and holder count.

After closing the multi-phase raise, WLFI pivoted from capital formation to ecosystem growth. First, it assembled a strategic treasury reserve to diversify balance-sheet exposure, capture crypto upside, and signal alignment with key ecosystems. On President's Inauguration Day, WLFI initiated this with unexpected acquisitions, buying $47 million each in ETH & WBTC, and $4.7 million in AAVE, LINK, TRX & ENA, underscoring the importance of crypto in the US under the Trump administration. Over the next six months, WLFI added positions in selective “partnership” tickets including SEI, ONDO, AVAX and MNT, typically $250K–$5 million each, tied to fundraising relationships or planned product integrations and distribution. By September 2025, public trackers showed a diversified treasury >$400 million (excluding WLFI and cash) with ETH representing >70% of the portfolio.

Second, WLFI moved into product delivery—turning this attention into live products. It positioned itself as a one-stop tokenization and DeFi layer, combining retail-scale distribution with institutional partnerships—and leveraging the Trump brand to frame DeFi as “safe” and mainstream. Products include:

• USD1 stablecoin: WLFI’s flagship product, fully collateralized by U.S. Treasuries and cash custodied by BitGo. USD1 supply now stands at $2.6 billion, ranking sixth among all stablecoins.

• Lending & borrowing: WLFI has proposed building an Aave v3 instance with USD1 as its centerpiece. This is viewed as the key entry point for institutional capital into DeFi, though deployment is pending.

• Decentralized exchange: Part of the roadmap but launch timeline uncertain. A governance proposal is live to direct 100% of POL fees into WLFI buybacks and burns.

• Cross-Chain bridge: Built with Chainlink CCIP, enabling transfers across Ethereum, BNB Chain, Solana, and Tron — positioning USD1 as a cross-chain settlement asset.

• Ecosystem integrations: Protocols like Raydium, Ethena, ONDO, Plume, and Bonk.fun have already integrated USD1 or WLFI. Institutions such as DWF Labs, Falcon, and Justin Sun (Tron) also backed fundraising rounds.

The WLFI token debut drew significant attention. Even before launch, pre-market perpetuals listed on Binance and Hyperliquid made WLFI one of the most actively traded assets, pushing implied valuations above $40 billion FDV. After the official listing, spot volume hit $4.7 billion within 24 hours, with the token briefly touching a $33 billion FDV before settling closer to $20 billion.

This valuation reflects a mix of Trump brand premium and a low-float structure: only ~7 billion of the 100 billion total tokens (~7% float) were liquid at launch, bringing circulating market cap closer to $2 billion FDV. Such high-FDV, low-float dynamics are common in crypto, often supporting elevated prices early but creating long-term unlock risk. In terms of token distribution, over 65% of supply is held by the team and early investors, with the Trump family controlling >20% (valued at $4 billion+, mostly locked) and retaining rights to 75% of token-sale proceeds and 60% of net profits. Currently, the token’s primary role is governance, with key topics such as vesting schedules and mechanisms for value accrual (e.g., buybacks) are left for the WLFI DAO to decide.

WLFI Treasury Portfolio has done well

Source: Dropstab.com

The bull case for WLFI rests on the tokenization thesis and the Trump brand. WLFI is positioning itself not as another DeFi protocol but as a serious challenger in the trillion-dollar stablecoin and tokenization race. Its competitors range from fintech entrants like Stripe (Tempo L1 for payments) and Robinhood (equity tokenization via an Arbitrum-based L2) to incumbents such as Tether and Circle, who currently control more than 80% of the stablecoin market. WLFI’s edge is distribution: where rivals compete on technology and compliance, it leverages Trump’s global brand to reframe DeFi — long viewed as risky — into something mainstream, patriotic, and safe. That branding has already translated into results. The $2 billion MGX-Binance transaction vaulted USD1 into the top tier of stablecoins overnight, while Alt5 Sigma’s $1.5 billion treasury strategy gave WLFI the public-market credibility that most crypto projects lack. If it can scale this model, WLFI’s TVL could grow from ~$2.6 billion today to tens of billions, placing it alongside DeFi leaders like Aave and Ethena. The market is already pricing this trajectory in. At ~$20 billion FDV, WLFI trades at a premium to established peers, with the market effectively pricing in future growth rather than current fundamentals. Whether adoption scales to meet these expectations — or the valuation normalizes closer to existing DeFi leaders — remains uncertain. For now, WLFI is being treated less like an early-stage project and more like a proto–category leader expected to shape the next wave of DeFi.

USD1 has scaled to $2.6 billion, making it the 6th largest USD stablecoin

Source: Coingecko

WLFI is trading at a substantial premium relative to peers

Source: Spartan Capital

The bear case highlights several risks: First, Trump’s earlier crypto ventures — NFTs and memecoins — created initial excitement but quickly lost over 90% of their value. WLFI could face the same outcome if execution fails to match expectations. Second, governance and tokenomics add further concerns: insiders hold the majority of supply, and vesting schedules can be altered by governance proposals dominated by those same insiders. This raises the risk of accelerated unlocks — potentially within 3–6 months — that could flood the market especially when investors are up 5-10x. Freezing Justin Sun’s WLFI stake underscored the project’s centralized control, while the undelivered ~7% token allocation to the Aave DAO for licensing fees further clouds its credibility. Third, execution capacity also comes into question, with the Trump and Witkoff families having limited crypto experience, and co-founders Zak Folkman and Chase Herro previously linked to Dough Finance, a DeFi project hacked and shut down in 2024. Finally, optics remain challenging: Trump remains U.S. President while his family holds a multibillion-dollar stake, raising ongoing concerns about policy decisions directly benefitting WLFI.

WLFI is currently being priced as a leading DeFi’s platform, with a $20+ billion FDV already eclipsing established protocols like Aave and Ethena despite having only a handful of products live. That premium reflects expectations of massive inflows driven by the Trump brand and early institutional deals like MGX and Alt5 Sigma. To justify its valuation, WLFI must scale USD1 into a top-tier stablecoin, expand TVL into the tens of billions, and prove its lending, exchange, and cross-chain products can generate sustainable usage. Governance concerns, unlock risk, and execution questions remain, but if WLFI delivers, it could transition from being another Trump-branded venture into a leader in the stablecoin and DeFi market.