Donald Trump unveils crypto platform, aims to make US ‘crypto capital of the planet’

Donald Trump launched a crypto platform promoted by him and his sons, Donald Junior and Eric, on X Spaces on September 16, Bloomberg reported.

The project, called World Liberty Financial, is a digital asset platform aimed at the decentralised finance (DiFi) segment, and is “supposed to help with financial security and being able to transact freely”, the report said.

“It’s a real problem that needed to be addressed, and honestly, I think this is the way,” Donald Jr. said.

DeFi is an arcane crypto sector in which people trade, lend, and borrow digital assets peer-to-peer using automated software, as per the Bloomberg report.

Trump's Pivot on Crypto

The report added that the Republican party's presidential nominee and former US president has “pivoted” his stance on digital assets — once calling bitcoin a "scam" — amid a tight US presidential election race.

Trump is now seeking donations and votes on the back of his digital asset outreach, going so far as to promise to make the US the “crypto capital of the planet”, it added.

We are going to make the US the crypto capital of the planet. If we (USA) don’t do it, China is going to do it. China is doing it anyway. But if we don’t do it, we’re not going to be the biggest, and we have to be the biggest and the best,” Trump said while speaking on the over two-hour long X Spaces livestream.

“The effort is consistent with Trump’s pro-crypto policy stance. It’s one thing to say you are pro-crypto and another to launch a company in the space,” Campbell Harvey, a finance professor at Duke University told Bloomberg.

What We Know

• The project will issue a digital token, WLFI, that will play a role in the governance of the business.
• Those in the US would have to be verified accredited investors to purchase the cryptocurrency.
• No specifics of World Liberty Financial or dates for the official start were shared, however.
• A white paper for World Liberty Financial reviewed by Bloomberg News before Trump’s X Spaces announcement listed Donald Trump as “chief crypto advocate,” Eric and Donald Jr. each as “Web3 Ambassador,” and 18-year-old Barron Trump as “chief DeFi visionary.”
• A disclaimer in the document said that World Liberty Financial is “not owned, managed, operated or sold” by the Trumps, while noting they may receive compensation.

(With inputs from Bloomberg)