Former President Donald Trump, his son and his business partners, the people behind World Liberty Financial, have made many promises about the revolutionary potential of the cryptocurrency platform. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said it would liberate “average Americans” from “big banks and the financial elite.”
Donald Trump Jr. said on X that it would help the unbanked and underbanked. No one involved in the project has said how this will be accomplished, or what exactly World Liberty Financial does. Now, the mysterious service is accepting registrations — but not everyone.
While details about World Liberty Financial are scarce, the company announced on X and Truth Social on Monday that its whitelist is now open. The platform now allows both US accredited investors and non-US persons to begin the Know Your Customer (KYC) verification process. It’s worth reiterating: Neither Trump nor anyone else involved in World Liberty Financial has explained in depth what services the platform actually offers.
Here’s what we know: World Liberty Financial said its goal is to drive “mass adoption of stablecoins and decentralized finance.” At the end of the more than two-hour X Space announcement of the project, World Liberty Financial advisor Corey Caplan said it will “sell and otherwise distribute a governance token called WLFI.” CoinDesk previously reported that World Liberty Financial will be built on the Ethereum blockchain and decentralized finance platform Aave and will be centered on a “credit account system.”
CoinDesk also obtained a white paper on the project, which states that 70% of WLFI will be held by World Liberty Financial’s founding members, team and service providers. But in a livestream announcing the platform, Caplan said the “fake news media” got the details wrong and that 63% of the tokens will be sold to the public.
World Liberty Financial’s website states: “More information about World Liberty Financial is only available to those who have completed the KYC process and have been pre-qualified.” In an article on X, World Liberty Financial blamed “outdated U.S. policies and regulations” for limiting whitelisting to accredited investors and non-U.S. citizens.
The SEC defines accredited investors as individuals with a net worth of at least $1 million (excluding the value of their primary residence), either alone or with a spouse or partner. They must have an annual income of at least $200,000 (individually) or $300,000 (with a spouse or partner) for at least the past two years. There are additional requirements for professionals and business entities.
As of 2022, more than 24 million U.S. households will qualify as accredited investors, according to estimates by the Securities and Exchange Commission. That’s a significant number—nearly 20% of U.S. households, a figure that can be partially attributed to recent inflation. But it’s a far cry from the unbanked and underserved communities that Trump and his son claim World Liberty Financial is supposed to help. #历史见证者打卡
