World Liberty Financial Acquires $45M in Crypto Assets During December

TLDR

• Trump’s DeFi project World Liberty Financial has spent nearly $45M on various cryptocurrencies in December, including ETH ($30M), cbBTC ($10M), and smaller amounts of ONDO, ENA, LINK, and AAVE
• The project lists Donald Trump as “chief crypto advocate” with his sons as ambassadors, and a family-linked company gets 75% of net revenues
• Justin Sun invested $30M in the project’s WLFI token and joined as an adviser, though the token sale has reached less than 25% of its $300M goal
• The project recently received approval from AaveDAO to deploy its own Aave instance for lending and borrowing cryptocurrencies
• In exchange for the Aave deployment, World Liberty will give 20% of generated fees to AaveDAO and 7% of WLFI supply worth $21M

World Liberty Financial, a decentralized finance (DeFi) project backed by former President Donald Trump, has purchased nearly $45 million worth of various cryptocurrencies during December 2024. The project’s latest acquisition includes a $250,000 investment in ONDO tokens.

According to blockchain monitoring account Lookonchain and data from Arkham Intelligence, the project’s buying spree began on November 30. The largest purchases include $30 million worth of Ether (ETH) and $10 million in Coinbase Wrapped Bitcoin (cbBTC).

The project has made several other strategic purchases throughout December. These include $250,000 in Ondo tokens and $500,000 in Ethena (ENA) tokens. Additionally, World Liberty invested $2 million each in Chainlink (LINK) and Aave (AAVE) tokens.

Trump's World Liberty(@worldlibertyfi) spent 250K $USDC to buy 134,216 $ONDO 2 hours ago.

Since Nov 30, #WorldLiberty has spent:

30M $USDC to buy 8,105 $ETH at $3,701;
10M $USDC to buy 103 $cbBTC at $97,181;
2M $USDC to buy 78,387 $LINK at $25.5;
2M $USDC to buy 6,137 $AAVE at… pic.twitter.com/0EVPCgMdMW

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) December 16, 2024

World Liberty Financial, which launched in September 2023, positions itself as a DeFi platform for cryptocurrency trading. The project lists Donald Trump as its “chief crypto advocate,” while his sons Donald Jr, Eric, and Barron serve as “ambassadors.” A company connected to the Trump family stands to receive 75% of the project’s net revenues.

The platform’s own token, WLFI, has faced challenges in meeting its sales targets. Despite offering $300 million worth of WLFI tokens for sale, the project has sold less than a quarter of this amount.

However, the project received a boost when Tron blockchain founder Justin Sun purchased $30 million worth of WLFI tokens. Following this investment, Sun joined the project as an adviser, becoming its largest investor.

The relationship with Sun adds an interesting dimension to the project, as he and Tron face accusations from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding the sale of unregistered securities. Trump has previously stated his intention to reform the SEC to create a more cryptocurrency-friendly environment.

In a recent development, AaveDAO, the autonomous collective managing the Aave protocol, approved World Liberty’s proposal to deploy its own version of the Aave protocol. This approval came on December 13, 2023.

The approved proposal outlines plans for borrowing and lending services involving several major cryptocurrencies. These include Ether, Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), and stablecoins such as USD Coin (USDC) and Tether (USDT).

As part of the agreement with AaveDAO, World Liberty Financial will share 20% of the fees generated through its Aave instance. Additionally, the project will distribute 7% of its WLFI token supply to AaveDAO, valued at approximately $21 million based on the current price of 1.5 cents per token.

The project’s December investments show a clear focus on established cryptocurrencies and DeFi protocols. The substantial investment in Ether, representing the largest single purchase at $30 million, suggests confidence in the Ethereum ecosystem.

The investment in Coinbase Wrapped Bitcoin, totaling $10 million, indicates the project’s interest in Bitcoin exposure through a wrapped token format, which allows for greater compatibility with DeFi protocols.

Smaller investments in tokens like ONDO, ENA, LINK, and AAVE demonstrate World Liberty’s strategy of diversifying across different DeFi protocols and services. These investments range from $250,000 to $2 million per token.

The project’s most recent purchase of $250,000 in ONDO tokens occurred around 11 pm UTC on December 15, following a $500,000 investment in Ethena tokens the previous day.

World Liberty Financial has not provided immediate comment on their recent investment activities or future plans.