Donald Trump’s crypto project, World Liberty Financial (WLFI), owed much of its early success to Justin Sun, the Chinese-born crypto billionaire who became an official advisor after buying $30 million worth of WLFI tokens.
World Liberty co-founder Zak Folkman said Sun’s involvement was a turning point, reviving the struggling project. WLFI initially failed to meet its fundraising goal due to restrictions limiting token sales to non-U.S. and accredited U.S. investors. However, after Sun’s 10-figure endorsement, the project surpassed its target and set a new one, now positioning WLFI among the four largest ICOs of all time.
Trump announced World Liberty Financial in October, presenting it as a decentralized lending platform based on Aave, but the platform has yet to launch. Folkman says the project is now working on a broader range of crypto products beyond lending.
Following Sun’s investment, World Liberty acquired $10 million worth of TRX tokens—native to Sun’s TRON blockchain—as well as WBTC, a bitcoin derivative linked to Sun. Reports also claimed that World Liberty was offering crypto teams a deal: buy WLFI tokens and pay an additional fee, and the project would add the buyer’s tokens to its portfolio as a marketing boost.
Folkman dismissed these claims, stating that anyone making such offers was not affiliated with World Liberty Financial.
Justin Sun, the founder of the TRON blockchain and associated with the HTX crypto exchange (formerly Huobi), made the $30 million purchase via a wallet linked to Huobi, as confirmed by Ethereum blockchain data on Etherscan.
Though TRON representatives did not officially comment on the transaction, sources and Sun himself later confirmed his involvement in a tweet.
Donald Trump’s decentralized finance (DeFi) project, World Liberty Financial (WLFI), launched its token sale on October 15. The public sale was exclusively available to whitelisted accredited investors, as per SEC regulations.
The project, fronted by Eric Trump, was first announced in August and has been touted as “digital real estate,” positioning itself as a major competitor in the DeFi space. The project has also set an ambitious goal of becoming a global “one-stop shop for DeFi,” competing with established platforms like Uniswap.
Despite high-profile backing from the U.S. president and his inner circle, the platform’s restrictive token policies hindered initial uptake. According to the WLFI “gold paper,” proceeds from token sales are partially directed to a Trump-controlled company. However, profits for Trump’s company would only be realized after exceeding $30 million in sales, a threshold met following Sun’s buy.
