Justin Sun-Backed Cryptocurrency Platform World Liberty Financial Gets Off to a Sluggish Start

The Donald Trump-backed cryptocurrency platform World Liberty Financial got off to a sluggish start, with investors buying far fewer of its WLFI tokens than the project hoped for.

Crypto billionaire Justin Sun purchased $30 million worth of WLFI tokens, providing a substantial boost to the Donald Trump-backed cryptocurrency platform.

World Liberty Financial, a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform, is backed by Trump and his three sons. The project features a team of Trump world insiders, crypto entrepreneurs and financial figures.

Sun, known for establishing the blockchain platform TRON, is also affiliated with HTX, a crypto exchange that was previously known as Huobi.

On Nov. 25, a wallet linked to Huobi purchased $30 million of WLFI tokens, according to Etherscan, a data service for the Ethereum blockchain. A spokesperson for TRON declined to directly comment on whether the sale was tied to Sun, but sources familiar with the matter told CoinDesk that he was behind the purchase.

Sun later confirmed the purchase in a tweet.

World Liberty Financial, which launched in September 2024, offers decentralized borrowing and lending services, with governance managed through the native WLFI token. Sales of the WLFI token began in September, although only non-U.S. investors and accredited U.S. investors were permitted to participate.

However, the purchase restrictions – combined with the non-transferability of WLFI tokens – appeared to make the token a difficult sell for the majority of crypto investors. Despite the project's target of selling $300 million worth of tokens, only $21 million had been sold prior to Sun's purchase on Monday.

According to the WLFI "gold paper," which outlines the project's plans and details of the WLFI token, a portion of the proceeds from the WLFI sale will be allocated to a company controlled by Donald Trump.

However, Trump's company would only stand to benefit once the sale proceeds surpassed $30 million, which they hadn't before Monday's sale to Sun.