Former President Donald Trump announced his latest business venture on Monday. A cryptocurrency platform called World Liberty Financial It will be managed by his sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump.
Trump’s announcement, broadcast live on X from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, was apparently Assassination attempt Sunday at a golf course in Florida.
President Trump has provided few details about World Liberty Financial, so details about the platform, which is not yet operational, are scarce. Typically, a cryptocurrency exchange is a platform where investors can buy and sell digital currencies, similar to how traditional stock exchanges operate. Cryptocurrency exchanges often charge fees when withdrawing Bitcoin or other digital currencies.
During the hours-long announcement, President Trump did not reveal how World Liberty Financial will operate, instead steering the conversation away from questions about cryptocurrencies to artificial intelligence and other topics. Other speakers at the event, including his eldest son, Donald Jr., also discussed a banking system that is unfavorable to conservatives and their embrace of cryptocurrencies as an alternative.
About two hours after the livestream began, executives from the venture, including entrepreneurs Chase Herro and Zachary Folkman, revealed who would be able to buy the World Liberty Token, known as WLFI, and how shares in the project would be allocated.
Folkman said one-fifth of WLFI tokens will be reserved for the project’s founding team, which includes Trump, and 17% will be set aside as rewards for users. The remaining 63% of tokens will be sold to the public. He also encouraged potential investors to follow World Liberty Financial on X for more information, which he said will be announced soon.
During the event, Trump, who was interviewed by Montreal-based crypto entrepreneur and self-described “crypto buddy” Farouk Sarmad, reiterated his desire for the U.S. to become the crypto capital of the world, and warned that if the U.S. does not lean into digital currencies, China will fill the void.
“We’ve got to be number one. I think AI is really important, but I think cryptocurrency is one of the things we’ve got to do,” Trump said.
Trump added that his children, including his 18-year-old son Barron, a freshman at New York University, are knowledgeable about cryptocurrency.
“Barron knows a ton about this stuff. He talks about wallets. He has four wallets. He knows the ins and outs of this stuff,” Trump said.
Trump, who once called cryptocurrencies a “scam,” has since reversed course. Millions of Americans invest in or trade cryptocurrencies, but young men tend to be most attracted to the digital asset, according to data from the Pew Research Center. 43% of American men ages 18-20 say they have invested in, traded or used cryptocurrencies, compared with just 16% of the general population.
—Reported by The Associated Press.
