Donald Trump’s World Liberty Financial crypto project is struggling despite his victory in the U.S. presidential election.

Data on the project’s website indicates that World Liberty Financial (WLFI) is struggling to meet its reduced goal of selling 2 billion tokens worth $30 million. Initially, the project aimed to sell 18.92 billion tokens worth nearly $300 million.

So far, World Liberty Financial has sold 1.08 billion tokens, raising $16.2 million, meaning it still has a long way to go to reach its target. This is notable, as lower-profile tokens like Poodlana and Bitcoin Dogs have raised more funds in shorter periods.

World Liberty Financial aims to be a big player in DeFi

According to its “gold paper,” World Liberty Financial is a decentralized finance network inspired by Trump himself. The project’s goal is to democratize access to financial assets while bolstering the global status of the U.S. dollar.

The platform will enable users to save and borrow money, primarily in U.S. dollar-based stablecoins like Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC). It also plans to issue its own stablecoin that will be used in the platform.

World Liberty Financial will compete with established DeFi networks such as AAVE, Compound, and JustLend, which currently hold a substantial market share. The WLFI token will power the platform and be used for governance, allowing holders to vote on the WLF Protocol.

WLFI red flags

A likely reason why the WLFI token sale is not doing well is because of the various red flags, which we have highlighted before. 

First, according to the gold paper, token holders are expected to benefit solely from WLFI price movements rather than any profit-sharing privileges. Instead, 75% of net protocol revenues will go to DT Marks DEFI LLC, a company controlled by Trump, which will also receive 22.5 billion WLFI tokens. The remaining 25% will go to WC Digital Fi, which will receive 7.5 billion WLFI tokens.

Second, World Liberty Financial’s team includes only two primary members, Chase Herro and Zak Folkman, both previously involved with Dough Financial, a failed DeFi protocol that led to significant investor losses. Other senior figures are Trump’s sons, Eric, Donald Jr., and Barron.

Third, The WLFI token sale has also underperformed after a warning from Galaxy Digital, which warned that it was more of an idea than a protocol. Their analysis also noted that the token had no value accrual for a project that did not exist. 

Additionally, many presale tokens have not done well this year, with most of them falling sharply a few days after their airdrop.