Donald Trump’s crypto project copied code from hacked app, report

Donald Trump’s family-run World Liberty Financial crypto project has reportedly lifted the code of a blockchain app that was previously hacked for $2 million.

That’s according to a report from CoinDesk, which also reveals that the project lists Trump as its “Chief Crypto Advocate,” his two older sons Eric Trump and Donald Jr as “Web3 Ambassadors,” and his 18-year-old son Barron as a “DeFi visionary.”

World Liberty Financial is apparently a borrowing and lending service that claims to highlight “the power of blockchain in an accessible way.” It also has its own non-transferable token called $WLFI which will be used for in-app governance. 

However, the project looks eerily similar to a blockchain app called Dough Finance which lost $1.8 million in a flash loan attack back in July. Dough also has links to four of World Liberty Financial’s creators. 

Screenshot from CoinDesk’s deputy managing editor showing Dough Finance (left) and World Liberty Financial.

Dough Financial’s builders, Zachary Folkman and Chase Herro, are listed as World Liberty Financial’s head of operations and data and strategies lead respectively.

The new project’s pseudonymous front-end developer, Boga, is also an author of Dough Finance’s source code, while Octavian Lojnita, World Liberty Financial’s smart contracts lead, also worked with Dough. 

Indeed, an early project iteration is reported to have lifted code directly from Dough Finance, however, it’s unclear if the app now contains this code. There are also no indications that the vulnerabilities in the Dough Financial code show up in World Liberty Financial’s code.

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Herro, who reportedly owns a 34-foot boat named ‘Clickbait,’ and Folkman are co-founders of Subify, a censorship-free membership platform that aims to compete against Patreon and OnlyFans.

Folkman also founded Date Hotter Girls LLC and has reportedly uploaded YouTube videos on picking up women. Property developer Steve Witkoff, his son Zach Witkoff, and Alex Golubitsky are also listed in World Liberty Financial’s Institutional Investment, Intelligence, and Legal Counsel roles respectively. 

A small portion of World Liberty Financial’s token, 1.3%, is reportedly being sent to the crypto governance advisory firm MetaleX run by Golubitsky and crypto attorney Gabriel Shapiro.

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