World Liberty Financial is a crypto company founded by Donald Trump, his sons, Steve Witkoff (who later became the president’s special envoy) and Witkoff’s sons. It describes itself as a decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem. In broad terms, that means it aims to let people borrow, lend and move money through blockchain software instead of banks and brokers. The business rests on two assets: WLFI, its token, and USD1, a stablecoin designed to hold a value of one U.S. dollar. Around them, the company has built a lending market called WLFI Markets. It has also applied for a national banking charter through a subsidiary, World Liberty Trust.
Key takeaways
- World Liberty Financial issues the WLFI token and the USD1 dollar stablecoin, and runs WLFI Markets, an app for borrowing and lending against digital assets using USD1.
- Its subsidiary World Liberty Trust has applied for a national bank charter, which would let it offer services such as payments, clearing and custody.
- Its white paper gives DT Marks DEFI LLC, an entity linked to the Trump family, 22.5 billion WLFI tokens and the right to 75% of project revenue.
- The company says the project is “not political.” Congressional Democrats and at least one Democratic senator have challenged its ties to the president.
Who founded and owns World Liberty Financial
The founding group combines two families: Donald Trump and his sons, and real estate investor Steve Witkoff and his sons. Zach Witkoff, one of the co-founders, has taken a visible public role in the company’s deals. World Liberty Financial was unveiled publicly in September 2024, before the 2024 presidential election. Its WLFI token began trading in September 2025.
Ownership is less transparent than the founder list suggests. The clearest public document is the project’s white paper, which the company calls its “Gold Paper.” It names DT Marks DEFI LLC as the recipient of two things:
- 22.5 billion WLFI tokens, and
- a right to 75% of the project’s revenue.
The white paper itself does not spell out who stands behind DT Marks DEFI LLC. The Wall Street Journal, in its mapping of the Trump family business empire, reported that the entity is linked to the president and to Trump family members it did not identify, through a chain of holding companies.
That arrangement answers a common question: does 75% of World Liberty go to Trump? The 75% figure refers to project revenue, not to 75% of the tokens or 75% of the company. The entity entitled to it is connected to the Trump family, but public reporting has not broken down exactly how the economic interest divides among individual family members.
The white paper also states that World Liberty Financial, the WLF Protocol and the WLFI tokens are “not political.” A company spokesperson has said that neither President Trump nor Steve Witkoff has had any involvement in World Liberty Financial since taking office.
The products: WLFI, USD1 and WLFI Markets
The WLFI token
WLFI is the project’s own token, the “World Liberty Financial coin.” Its market price floats freely, unlike the stablecoin, and has moved well below its early trading highs since launch. Its value depends on demand for the token and on confidence in the project. No reserve of assets backs it at a fixed price.
The large allocation to DT Marks DEFI LLC matters to anyone weighing the token. A single insider-linked entity holding billions of tokens can affect supply on the market if those tokens are ever sold or moved. The same goes for other large holders, such as a public company that has pledged to accumulate WLFI (covered below).
The USD1 stablecoin
USD1 sits at the center of the business. Like other dollar stablecoins, it aims to stay pegged at one dollar, with each token meant to be redeemable for, and backed by, dollar-denominated assets. Stablecoin issuers generally hold those reserves in cash and short-term U.S. Treasurys and earn interest on them. The holders of the coins do not receive that interest.
That model explains why USD1’s circulating supply matters so much to the company. Here is a hypothetical example of the mechanics, not World Liberty’s actual figures: an issuer with $1 billion of stablecoins outstanding, backed by Treasurys yielding 4% a year, would earn about $40 million a year in interest before costs. Double the supply and, at the same yield, the interest income roughly doubles. Falling interest rates shrink it.
WLFI Markets
WLFI Markets is the company’s lending app, launched in January alongside the bank charter application. Users can borrow and lend against digital assets using USD1, and the interface also lets them earn points. WLFI Markets is not available everywhere in the United States, and New York is among the excluded locations.
As in crypto lending generally, a borrower posts digital assets as collateral and receives a loan, here in USD1. If the collateral’s value falls far enough relative to the loan, the protocol can liquidate it. Lenders earn interest but take on the risk that the system, the collateral or the stablecoin fails to hold up.
For World Liberty, WLFI Markets does more than offer a product. If it gains users, every new USD1 loan and deposit could increase demand for USD1. More USD1 in circulation could in turn increase the interest income earned on its reserves.
World Liberty Trust and the bank charter
World Liberty Trust, a subsidiary, applied for a national banking charter in January. A national charter is granted at the federal level in the U.S. and would bring the company under federal bank supervision.
The charter would change the shape of the business. A stablecoin issuer outside the banking system makes money mainly from interest on reserves. A nationally chartered trust bank could also offer and charge for core financial services such as:
- payments,
- clearing,
- asset custody (holding assets on behalf of clients).
That would move World Liberty from the edges of the payments world into its central infrastructure. The application is a request, not an approval, and the company’s ability to offer these services depends on how regulators decide.
The ALT5 Sigma deal
World Liberty Financial also owns a stake in ALT5 Sigma (ALTS), a company listed on Nasdaq. Securities and Exchange Commission filings describe the transaction: World Liberty exchanged $750 million in WLFI tokens for 1 million ALT5 shares plus warrants to buy an additional 99 million shares. A warrant gives its holder the right to buy shares later at a set price, so World Liberty’s eventual ownership could grow well beyond the initial 1 million shares if it exercises them.
The two companies’ leadership overlaps:
- Zach Witkoff, a World Liberty co-founder, is chairman of ALT5.
- Eric Trump, the president’s younger son, sits on ALT5’s board in an “observer” position, a role chosen to comply with Nasdaq rules.
Money and tokens flow in both directions. ALT5 has a stated goal of acquiring more WLFI tokens, and World Liberty has lent ALT5 money to buy back its own shares. Investors in either company should note that each side’s value depends partly on the other.
Political scrutiny and conflict-of-interest questions
Because a sitting president’s family is behind the company, World Liberty Financial has drawn sustained scrutiny.
- Congressional Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee published a November report titled “Trump, Crypto, and a New Age of Corruption.” It said the president “leveraged his office to make himself a crypto billionaire.”
- The Wall Street Journal reported that the company sold a large stake to a foreign royal. A Democratic senator pledged to investigate the sale.
The company has rejected the criticism. Its spokesperson said the president and Steve Witkoff had no involvement in that transaction, and that the deal was made “because we strongly believe that it was what was best for our company as we continue to grow.”
Blockchain research firm Arkham has described World Liberty Financial as an “experiment into the convergence of politics, finance, and blockchain technology.” Its business plans depend on financial regulators: the bank charter needs federal approval, and stablecoin rules shape how USD1 can operate. Its founders’ family controls the executive branch that oversees those regulators. That overlap is the source of the conflict-of-interest questions.
What this means if you are considering WLFI or USD1
The two assets carry different kinds of risk, and they should not be treated as the same thing.
WLFI is a speculative token whose price can rise or fall sharply. Large allocations to insider-linked entities and to ALT5 mean a small number of holders control a significant share of supply. The token’s value also depends on the company’s reputation and political fortunes, which are unusual risks for a crypto asset.
USD1 aims for stability, but no stablecoin’s peg is guaranteed. A peg holds only as long as the reserves are sufficient, accessible and trusted. Holders also earn nothing from the reserve interest unless they lend the coin out, for example through WLFI Markets. Lending adds smart-contract and counterparty risk on top of the peg risk.
Counterparty concentration is the broader issue. When one company issues the token, issues the stablecoin, runs the lending market and seeks a bank charter, trouble in one area can spread to the others. The FTX collapse shows how quickly that can unfold at a firm with tangled internal relationships.
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Written byCrypto Desk