By Michelle Collin
NEW YORK, April 15 (Reuters) – World Liberty Financial, the crypto venture co-founded by President Trump and his sons, issued a new proposal on Wednesday that would bar early investors from trading tokens – 80% of their holdings are currently locked up by the firm – for two years, then for an additional two-year period, according to a statement.
The measure, which will be subject to a vote in a week, means early investors with 17 billion tokens won’t be able to trade all their tokens until 2030, a year after the president leaves office. “This offering is designed to ensure long-term participation in our ecosystem and help ensure a healthy market supply,” World Liberty Financial spokesman David Wachsman said in a statement to Reuters.
The restrictions will also apply to World Freedom tokens held personally by the project’s founders, including the president and his three sons, with an additional year of vesting and the deletion or “burning” of 10% of their tokens. However, this did not change the terms of the project’s token sale, which sends 75% of all new token proceeds to the Trump family. When asked if World Liberty will continue selling new tokens, Wachsman replied, “Stay tuned to World Liberty’s official X account for updates.”
The new proposal comes amid complaints from investors that the company has frozen its funds as it siphons off tens of millions of dollars for itself. According to a Reuters analysis, the Trump family has earned more than $1 billion from World Liberty. Many early investors told Reuters they were also hoping for a payday.
The company has faced increasing scrutiny from many of its investors who have accused the company of its lack of transparency, centralized governance structure, and failure to respond to community complaints. Those who purchased tokens from the secondary market will not be affected by the new vesting proposal, although they must agree to lock their tokens for six months if they wish to participate in the governance vote.
Investors have also complained about the way big wallets have more of a say in voting decisions and the new “super node” investor tier that gives the WLF team “guaranteed direct access” to those who lock up at least $5 million worth of tokens for six months. This privileged layer of token holders appears to undercut WLF’s previous promise to democratize access to finance.
