‘Easier to pump’: Trump-tied crypto token opens for trading

Eric Trump, left, and Donald Trump Jr.

This Labor Day, while US markets are closed, crypto traders had their first opportunity to buy and sell the tokens tied to a project endorsed by President Donald Trump and his family.

WLFI, a governance token issued by World Liberty Financial and originally designed for voting on ideas to improve the protocol, jumped more than 17% to a high of 33 cents when it began trading on crypto exchanges Monday, according to data collated by CoinGecko. The token debuted at an average price of around 28 cents, listed on platforms including Binance, OKX and Kraken.

Early investors, who don’t include founders like Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, can sell no more than 20% of their holdings as part of Monday’s launch; the rest will remain non-tradable.

The market debut served as a crucial test of how high the Trump name can drive the value of the 100 billion tokens linked to a one-year-old project. At 30 cents — the price at which the token was offered in pre-market trading on some sites — the market value of all tokens in circulation would have placed it among the top 45 tokens.

As of 9:35 a.m. in New York on Monday, it ranked at 26th with a circulating value of $9.1 billion, per CoinGecko. Some investors are holding out for the token to vault into the top 20, which is likely to push more exchanges to offer it.

Dylan Bane, an analyst at Messari, calls the 20% sell limit for early investors “a standard float-management tactic.”

“By restricting early liquidity, the project reduces near-term sell pressure and keeps prices more stable,” he said. “It also boosts optics.”

In crypto, rankings can shape fortunes. Sites like CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap.com typically rank tokens based on their price multiplied by circulating supply. Those lists, in turn, often dictate where money flows. Yet few coins have been so proximate to the halls of power in the way WLFI is.

Morten Christensen, a trader who owns WLFI and profited from buying and selling Trump’s TRUMP memecoin within hours of its launch, sees it another way.

“With a low float, it’s easier to pump a price,” said Christensen, who runs site AirdropAlert.com and expects to pocket any gains from WLFI within days. “It’s a good, explosive cocktail.”

A representative for World Liberty declined to comment.

Crypto Suite

The Trump family has spent the past year rolling out a suite of crypto products and ventures, from a dollar-pegged stablecoin to Bitcoin mining and digital-asset funds. Each has extended the family brand into a new corner of speculative finance.

Trump endorsed and helped launch World Liberty Financial on social media before taking office; he and co-founder Steven Witkoff are now listed as “emeritus” on the company’s website.

Since returning to the White House, Trump has signed a law governing stablecoins and appointed regulators friendly to digital assets, while his sons have turned the family business toward a flurry of crypto ventures. WLFI is pitched by backers as involved in bridging legacy finance with the open economy, aimed at drawing retail interest and liquidity.

The Trump family’s stake in World Liberty is considerable. DT Marks DEFI LLC, an entity tied to the president and family members, owns 38% of WLF Holdco, which controls World Liberty and its revenues net of expenses. The entity and family also hold 22.5 billion WLFI tokens, and DT Marks DEFI collected fees equal to 75% of token sale proceeds.

World Liberty founders’ tokens will remain non-tradable until WLFI holders vote on a schedule. In the meantime, plans vary among retail holders.

A survey conducted on a WLFI Discord group among those who own at least 1 million WLFI tokens found that many smaller holders planned to sell if the price reached 47 cents.

Larger holders were aiming to hold out for $1 or more, said Vincent Deriu, who runs the group. Many expected to sell only part of their 20% allowance — perhaps to buy something they’ve wanted.

“A Lambo,” he said, referring to a Lamborghini sports car. “A lot of the whales, it would be easy for them already.”

WLFI holder Bruno Ver said he planned to sell about 10% of his total stake once trading began. He thinks the token could reach 35 cents to 50 cents.

“Definitely I am going to spend it on the family,” he said. “I already told my wife we are going to do a cruise in September.”