World Liberty Financial, a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform linked to the Trump family, announced plans to propose a governance measure next week aimed at establishing a phased unlock schedule for WLFI tokens held by early retail purchasers. According to Cointelegraph, the proposal will be open for community feedback before moving to a formal vote. The initiative does not advocate for a complete and immediate unlock but instead suggests a structured, long-term vesting plan to release tokens incrementally.
Currently, WLFI tokens are largely inaccessible to early buyers, with their transferability contingent on governance-approved unlocks. Tokenomist data indicates that approximately 24.67% of WLFI's 100 billion token supply has been released, leaving about 75.33% locked or awaiting future unlock decisions. The proposal could potentially provide early buyers with liquidity access to WLFI, which is primarily used for governance. This move comes amid public discontent from some holders over extended lockups, with threats of legal action being made.
The ongoing concerns are compounded by previous governance decisions regarding token restrictions. On March 16, WLFI token holders approved a proposal that introduced a six-month lock-up rule for certain transfers, marking a significant change to the project's transferability framework. Early sale materials from World Liberty indicated that WLFI tokens were non-transferable and could remain locked indefinitely, with any future unlock subject to a governance vote no sooner than 12 months after the token sale, without a guaranteed timeline.
This 12-month period has already elapsed, as WLFI's public sale commenced around mid-October 2024, placing the current proposal approximately 18 months post-initial sale. The company raised at least $550 million from WLFI token sales across two funding rounds. Some self-identified WLFI presale buyers have expressed dissatisfaction over the continued lock on their holdings, despite parts of the broader token supply becoming transferable. At least one buyer has reportedly filed legal notices and is pursuing claims in the United States and the Netherlands against World Liberty Financial and its backers. Cointelegraph could not independently verify the filing of any lawsuit.
Additionally, onchain borrowing activities have heightened concerns among token holders. A community member highlighted in an X post that the project's borrowing activities raised questions about the use of treasury funds. Onchain data reveals that World Liberty Financial's treasury borrowed approximately $75 million in stablecoins from Dolomite, using WLFI as collateral. Cointelegraph reached out to World Liberty Financial for comments but had not received a response by the time of publication.