TLDR
- World Liberty Financial, with Donald Trump's backing, accomplished a token sale amassing funds between $550 and $590 million.
- Although their early fundraising efforts only hit $11 million out of a desired $300 million, interest grew considerably later on.
- The WLFI tokens bought in the sale are restricted for a year and are only utilized as governance tokens.
- By March 10, the project's assets faced $110 million in losses related to market factors.
- Integral to the project's triumph was support from Tron founder Justin Sun.
Entwined with President Trump's household, World Liberty Financial is a crypto venture. They have triumphantly concluded their token sale operation. .
Their capital-raising process concluded with a neat $550 million sum. The project's official website highlights the $550 million raised, though some accounts cite it closer to $590 million. The sale of WLFI's governance tokens kicked off in October 2024, with a skyward goal of $300 million by selling 20 billion tokens at $0.015 each.
Only pre-approved investors, who cleared Anti-Money Laundering checks, could engage in buying, which narrowed prospective buyers to credited investors.
The initial token sale didn't reach expectations, clawing in just $11 million for 766 million tokens, prompting a lower funding target of $30 million to better align with market desires. Know Your Customer (KYC) The first sale chapter closed on January 20, moving 20% of the complete token supply. During this, Tron's Justin Sun emerged as a key investor with a $30 million contribution in November and boosted his investment afterwards.
Interest heightened post the first sale phase, with the team opening another 5 billion WLFI tokens on January 20 priced at $0.05 each.
By March 13, 99% of these extra tokens were snapped up, showing a significant uptick in interest over the duration of the sale.
At Consensus 2025 in Hong Kong, WLFI co-founder Zak Folkman lauded Justin Sun for the project's flourishing.
Folkman mentioned the timing of the project's launch was intense, under heavy scrutiny due to its notable affiliations.
Regular crypto venture capitalists showed less enthusiasm for investing in the token, but Sun noticed the project's potential as a groundbreaking step for the crypto realm.
The WLFI tokens acquired will stay under lock for twelve months beyond the sale, stalling any immediate trade possibilities.
WLFI stands distinctly as a governance token, allowing holders input on proposals without claiming ownership, financial yield, or benefits.
The project's clarified its token isn't a security or digital currency, nor usable for transactions or services, and operates separately from WLFI's business achievements.
Currently, the token can't be transferred or sold publicly on exchanges, and there's no set schedule for when it might be listed, leaving liquidity timelines uncertain.
While the fundraising achieved its goal, financial challenges persisted, with total losses for the Trump-affiliated project pegged at $110 million by March 10.
A $336 million was earmarked by the project for nine crypto assets, but downturns slashed it down to $226 million; with Ethereum (ETH) making up 65% and suffering heavily.
WLFI obtained ETH at an average $3,240 per token, with the value dipping to around $1,896, causing severe portfolio devaluation alongside other assets.
ICODrops data suggests WLFI's $550-590 million haul places it among the top-tier token sales historically, with EOS holding the record at $4.21 billion.
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