With pre-market listings already live and a proposal on the table, the potential transition of WLFI into a tradable token could have significant implications for Trump’s digital asset portfolio. The market response has been positive, with his wallet value seeing a nearly 2.5% increase in just one day.
On July 4, World Liberty Financial, a DeFi project associated with Trump, put forward a proposal to convert its WLFI governance token into a tradable asset. While the token remains non-transferable at the moment, decentralized exchanges such as MEXC, BingX, and LBank have already listed it for pre-market trading in anticipation of the transition.
The project is currently awaiting community approval before finalizing the token’s shift to a tradable asset. Trump, who is identified as the “chief crypto advocate” on the platform’s website, stands to benefit greatly from this move, as WLFI is linked to his personal holdings. As excitement builds around this development, his publicly visible crypto portfolio tracked by Arkham Intelligence has seen a modest increase to $1.41 million, largely driven by the renewed interest in WLFI.
The billion-dollar gap between Trump’s public crypto wallet and his private crypto empire is quite significant. While his on-chain wallet shows a balance of $1.41 million, his actual exposure to crypto assets goes beyond what is publicly disclosed. Reports suggest that Trump has already made $246 million in post-tax profits from his crypto ventures and could potentially earn up to $1 billion, surpassing the combined value of Mar-a-Lago and Trump Tower.
It is estimated that Trump and his family collectively hold 22.5 billion WLFI tokens, giving them a controlling stake in the protocol. Additionally, a family-affiliated entity is entitled to 75% of net revenue from token purchases after a certain threshold is reached. If the proposal to allow open trading of WLFI is approved as expected by Q3 2025, Trump’s market share could increase even further.
The proposal to transform the governance token into a tradable asset represents a new chapter in Trump’s crypto journey. This move will test whether crypto markets view Trump-affiliated projects as legitimate ventures or simply political tools. However, this fusion of politics and profit has raised concerns in Washington, with Democratic lawmakers introducing bills to prevent presidents and their families from owning or promoting crypto assets.
In response to these concerns, Senator Jeff Merkley has proposed an amendment to Trump’s budget bill to address potential conflicts of interest in digital asset markets. Organizations like Public Citizen have also warned about the blurred lines between governance and business in the Trump family’s involvement in crypto. This historic precedent could set a precedent for how future political figures engage with the crypto market.