New details have emerged about a crypto project reportedly linked to former President Donald Trump, named World Liberty Financial, in a recent CoinDesk report. The project, which has connections to the Trump family, is reportedly being developed on the decentralized finance (DeFi) platform Aave and the Ethereum blockchain, with a focus on a “credit account system.”
World Liberty Financial, initially branded as “The DeFiant Ones,” was announced in late August, but information about the project has been sparse. The whitepaper, still under development, and a now-deleted GitHub codebase suggest that the project draws inspiration from the DeFi protocol Dough Finance, though it’s unclear if the Dough Finance codebase will be used in the final product. The Trump family members involved include Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and 18-year-old Barron Trump, who are reportedly part of the planning team for the project’s rollout. This announcement followed closely on the heels of Donald Trump’s latest NFT series launch.
The whitepaper also reveals plans for a “non-transferable” governance token named WLFI. Adding to the intrigue, CoinDesk reports that Dough Finance’s co-founders, Zachary Folkman and Chase Herro (who also goes by Chase Hero), are listed as the project’s head of operations and data and strategies lead. This connection is notable as Dough Finance was recently targeted in a $1.8 million flash loan attack in July.
The association between the Trump-backed project and Dough Finance was first highlighted in August by Steven Zheng from The Block Research, who identified the involvement of Chase Herro and the project’s likely name, World Liberty Financial, before it was officially announced.
The Trump family has urged the public to be wary of potential scams connected to the project, stressing that any official updates will come directly from their personal or professional channels. Although Donald Trump was initially skeptical of cryptocurrencies, he has since embraced the industry, gaining backing and campaign contributions from key figures in the crypto community.