The early launch of the Donald Trump World Liberty Financial (WLFI) token faced global challenges in raising the expected $300 million. Thus, fundraising activities have been described as a total failure two days after it was launched on October 15th, as WLFI only raised about $11 million, representing just 4% of the goal. In fact, with so much effort put into publicizing the project, which was even described as a ‘cryptobank’, things became different.
Technical issues affect Trump Token sales
It was assumed that the WLFI token would generate enormous interest, especially with Trump at the helm. Co-founder Zachary Folkman said there were more than 100,000 people ready to invest. The other side of the coin, however, is quite different. The project Unable to access website for long periods, exasperating potential buyers who tried, unsuccessfully, to participate in the sale.
In reality, however, the token is held by less than 9,300 unique wallets, a far cry from the acceptance expected by investors. The teething problems associated with the project not only reduced sales during launch, but also created viable concerns about the future of the project.
Determining Investor Attitude and Regulatory Issues
The WLFI token is described as a regulatory D offering in which it is only offered to a specific group of people known as accredited investors or individuals who have a net worth of more than $1 million or gross income of up to $200,000 annually.
This limitation on the inclusion of investors effectively reduces the available customer base. Furthermore, unlike many of the cryptocurrencies which allow immediate trading of their tokens, WLFI tokens are non-transferable and are primarily governance tokens. Investors can vote on proposals on the platform, but they are relatively passive at the moment.
In addition to these obstacles, Trump shortly after the launch published a post on social media urging his fans to invest in WLFI. He went on to say that cryptocurrency was the way forward, but his call to action did not result in an immediate increase in sales.
A cloudy future ahead?
The future of the WLFI is, however, unknown, even as it struggles to gain momentum. The money raised goes to the WLF treasury, but without a clear plan or meaningful rewards for investors, confidence could continue to wane. Critics note that the WLFI is opaque; has not published a comprehensive white paper or business plan that savvy investors typically require of such initiatives.
Meanwhile, despite the hiccups, Etherscan Data found that thousands of investors rushed to the Trump-endorsed DeFi project. In the first hour, 3,000 distinct addresses collected around 350 million WLFI coins in the face of a rocky start.
Featured image by Andrew Harnik/AP, chart from TradingView