World Liberty Financial sold 5.9 billion WLFI tokens to private accredited investors in deals that were never disclosed to existing holders. Bloomberg broke the story on May 1 after examining governance filings analyzed by Tokenomist.ai. The token dropped to an all-time low twice in the same week.
The private sales came after two public rounds that had already raised over $550 million. The buyers were not named. The proceeds reportedly flowed to founder-affiliated entities, with project disclosures showing that an entity tied to the Trump family is entitled to receive up to 75% of net token sale revenue. Meanwhile, early investors who bought at $0.05 during the public rounds remain locked out of 80% of their holdings.
The numbers behind the private deals
WLFI has a maximum supply of 100 billion tokens. The founder and team allocation currently sits at 33.5%, the largest single bucket, with 22.5 billion tokens designated for the Trump family entity. Public token buyers hold about a third of total supply. The math is simple: insiders can outvote outsiders on every governance proposal.
Data from Tokenomist.ai showed that tokens categorized under founder, team, and partner allocations had increased after the private sales, raising questions about how supply was being distributed. WLFI described the transactions as “white glove” sales but did not share buyer details or full allocation breakdowns.
WLFI Token Structure Snapshot
| Metric | Detail |
|---|---|
| Total Supply | 100 billion WLFI |
| Public Raise | $550M+ across two rounds |
| Undisclosed Private Sale | 5.9 billion tokens, buyers unnamed |
| Founder/Team Allocation | 33.5% of total supply |
| Trump Family Token Revenue | Up to 75% of net proceeds |
| Early Investor Lockup | 80% of holdings locked |
| WLFI Price at Press Time | ~$0.055 (all-time low) |
62 billion token unlock vote is passing with 99.5% support
The private sale dropped alongside another governance flashpoint. WLFI is pushing a proposal to unlock 62 billion tokens, with the vote already past quorum and running at 99.5% approval. Under the plan, founders and team members would burn 10% of their holdings, roughly 4.5 billion tokens, then begin unlocking the remaining 40.7 billion over a five-year schedule following a two-year cliff.
Early supporters holding 17 billion tokens face a two-year cliff followed by two-year linear vesting. No burn required on their end. But here is the catch: holders who reject the proposal risk having their tokens locked indefinitely with no clear release date. On-chain analysis suggests that just four wallet addresses controlled roughly 40% of the voting power on this proposal.
The unlock vote has drawn criticism for its timing. The unlock is structured to take effect after Trump’s presidential term ends, which critics read as a window for founding participants to exit before regulatory pressure tightens.
Justin Sun sued, Steve Witkoff divested, and the Dolomite loop
The pressure is coming from multiple directions. Justin Sun filed a lawsuit against WLFI last month, alleging that the project froze his tokens and stripped his governance rights. Sun invested $45 million into WLFI and claims he has not been allowed to sell any of it. WLFI CEO Zach Witkoff called Sun’s claims “entirely meritless.”
Steve Witkoff, the president’s special envoy to the Middle East and father of WLFI’s CEO, has reportedly divested from the project. Forbes reported earlier that Witkoff had substantially enriched himself during his government tenure, in large part due to WLFI-related investments.
Then there is the Dolomite situation. WLFI deposited 5 billion of its own governance tokens into Dolomite, a DeFi lending platform co-founded by a WLFI advisor, and borrowed $75 million in stablecoins against them. The collateral position represented roughly 55% of Dolomite’s entire TVL. The borrowing drained the USD1 lending pool to approximately 93% utilization, meaning other depositors could not withdraw their funds. (WLFI says the position is stable and partially repaid.)
WLFI at $0.055 and the conflict of interest question
WLFI is trading at roughly $0.055 as of this writing, down over 45% in one month. The token had already hit record lows earlier in April before the Bloomberg report pushed it lower. Early buyers who entered at $0.05 are essentially flat or underwater, and 80% of their tokens remain locked.
The TRUMP memecoin, another project tied to the family, is trading at about $2.3, down roughly 97% from its all-time high. A Coingo analysis ranking Trump’s four crypto ventures identified WLFI as the most controversial due to its opacity and the scale of founder compensation relative to public investors.
The largest investor suing the project, the founder’s father divesting, a governance vote controlled by four wallets, and now undisclosed private sales worth hundreds of millions. WLFI has confirmed the sales took place. It has not explained why existing investors were not told.
