A total of $5 million in grants selected to contact investors directly with World Liberty Financial’s leadership team is drawing attention as the Trump-backed crypto project reshapes the way power flows within its governance structure.
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The new law is part of a proposal that passed with overwhelming support last Friday, laying the groundwork for major changes in the way decisions are made in the industry.
Token Lockout Rule Applies
WLFI token holders seeking voting rights will now need to freeze their holdings for 180 days. The proposal closed with 99.12% approval out of 1,800 votes.
But the numbers tell a more complicated story – more than 76% of those tokens came from only 10 users, raising questions about how representative the vote is of the project’s community.
A 2% annual yield is awarded to shareholders who participate in at least two management votes during the closing window. Those who already have locked tokens are not affected and can continue to vote without interruption.
WLFI said the change was made to ensure that only investors committed to the project’s future could assess its whereabouts. The six-month requirement is framed as a filter for serious, long-term participants rather than short-term speculators.
Big Statistics Come with Big Benefits
Investors willing to put in 50 million WLFI tokens – valued at around $5 million – are being offered something more than a harvest: direct access to WLFI’s management and business development team.
WLFI spokesman David Wachsman told Reuters that the site is a business development team and company executives, not individual founders, and that it stops short of confirming any formal partnership.
However, the tiered structure creates a clear divide between everyday token holders and those with deep pockets.
The list of project leaders includes well-known names. Eric Trump and Barron Trump are listed as co-founders of the WLFI Gold Paper, along with Zach and Alex Witkoff, sons of Steven Witkoff. Zach Witkoff serves as CEO.
Pending Bank Charter Bid
Beyond governance, WLFI has wider ambitions in the financial sector. The project applied to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in January for a national bank trust tied to its stablecoin, USD1, and is awaiting a decision.
The stablecoin is essential to WLFI’s goal of supporting decentralized financial applications and other projects related to maintaining the standing of the US dollar around the world.
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CEO Zach Witkoff has floated plans to expand into commodity tokens, with real estate and oil and gas among the areas being explored.
Reports also indicate that the project is weighing the creation of a publicly traded company to hold its WLFI tokens.
Six executive summary votes have been completed so far, covering issues ranging from making the token available for sale to expanding access to USD1. This latest proposal reflects a shift towards tightening who gets a seat at the table going forward.
Featured image from JrKripto, chart from TradingView
