TL;DR
- Token Sale Underperformance: The World Liberty Financial (WLFI) token sale, backed by Donald Trump, raised only $10.3 million of its $300 million target, achieving just 3.4% of its goal.
- Website Crashes and Traffic Overload: The WLFI website crashed shortly after the sale commenced, overwhelmed by traffic and resulting in hours of downtime.
- Investor Skepticism: The project’s reliance on celebrity endorsements and its non-transferable governance token structure have raised concerns among investors, leading to skepticism about its long-term viability.
The much-anticipated token sale for World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a cryptocurrency project backed by Donald Trump, launched on October 15, 2024. The project aimed to raise $300 million by selling 20 billion tokens at 1.5 cents each.
The Trump family, including Eric, Barron, and Donald Trump Jr., were prominently featured as “Web3 Ambassadors,” with Trump himself serving as the “Chief Crypto Advocate”.
Website Crash and Technical Issues
Despite the initial hype and a significant promotional push, the launch was marred by technical difficulties. The World Liberty Financial website crashed shortly after the token sale went live, reportedly due to overwhelming traffic.
The site remained down for several hours, displaying a “website under maintenance” notice to potential investors. As of October 16, only $10.3 million worth of WLFI tokens had been sold, representing just 3.4% of the $300 million target.
This shortfall is a significant setback for the project, which had touted over 100,000 signups before the launch. Data from Etherscan revealed that only 6,832 unique wallet addresses held WLFI tokens, far below expectations.
Investor Concerns and the Future Prospects of Trump-Backed Token
The disappointing sales figures have raised concerns among investors and industry observers. The WLFI token is designed to serve as a governance token for an Ethereum-based DeFi platform, but its non-transferable nature and the project’s reliance on high-profile endorsements have led to skepticism.
In the United States, the tokens are only available to accredited investors, further limiting the potential pool of buyers. The project’s white paper, dubbed the “gold paper,” outlines ambitious plans for the platform, but the initial response suggests that achieving these goals may be challenging.
The Trump-backed World Liberty Financial token sale has fallen significantly short of its ambitious $300 million target, raising questions about the project’s viability and the effectiveness of celebrity endorsements in the crypto space. As the project moves forward, it will need to address technical issues and rebuild investor confidence to achieve its long-term objectives.