After the debut surge of the "core token," it has retreated, and the cryptocurrency circle has "offered" $5 billion in assets to the Trump family

The cryptocurrency project World Liberty Financial, associated with the Trump family, made its market debut. Although its core token WLFI experienced a brief surge before quickly retreating and underperforming expectations, this did not affect the Trump family's ability to secure substantial profits.

On Monday (September 1), the highly anticipated WLFI token officially launched for trading on major cryptocurrency exchanges such as Binance, Bybit, and OKX. The token opened at 20 cents and rapidly surged to a high of about 40 cents within five minutes of trading, but the gains were significantly narrowed thereafter. As of now, its price has retreated to around 23 cents, underperforming expectations.

As previously mentioned by Wall Street Insight, according to the rules, approximately 35,000 early buyers who purchased tokens for a total of about $550 million before this spring were allowed to sell 20% of their holdings on Monday. Since their purchase cost was far below the opening price, many chose to take profits immediately.

However, the secondary market performance of the token did not affect the Trump family's earnings. The New York Times reported that disclosed documents indicated an "unusual internal arrangement" with Nasdaq-listed Alt5 Sigma Corporation, which could bring direct cash benefits to Trump family entities of up to hundreds of millions of dollars. In short, the Trump family profits from special agreements rather than relying on the fluctuations of the token. The publicly traded company Alt5 spent $1.5 billion to buy WLFI, with 75% of the sales proceeds going directly into the Trump family's pockets, instantly securing hundreds of millions in cash.

Additionally, based on Monday's closing price, the 22.5 billion $WLFI tokens controlled by the Trump family have a book value of about $5 billion, making it one of Trump's most valuable assets, far exceeding traditional real estate investments such as hotels and golf courses. However, the tokens held by the management team are currently still locked and cannot be sold immediately.

Special Internal Arrangement Secures Huge Profits for the Trump Family

According to the New York Times, despite the lackluster market debut, the Trump family's substantial profits have been secured through another channel. According to disclosures from World Liberty, this is due to an unusual agreement with Nasdaq-listed Alt5 Sigma Corporation.

In August of this year, Alt5 announced the appointment of World Liberty Financial co-founder Zach Witkoff as its chairman, with President Trump's son Eric Trump becoming a board member, and another executive, Zachary Folkman, serving as a board observer. This series of appointments positioned the three executives of World Liberty in leadership roles at Alt5At the same time as announcing leadership changes, Alt5 also disclosed plans to use the $1.5 billion it raised to make purchases when WLFI begins trading on Monday. On Monday, World Liberty confirmed in a statement that it had sold over 7.5 billion tokens (approximately 8% of the total supply) to Alt5. This transaction was the largest token trade on the market that day.

According to the agreement established at the project's inception, in return for Trump's personal endorsement and family involvement in management, a Trump family entity named DT Marks DEFI is entitled to receive "75% of the net proceeds from the $WLFI token sale." This sale to Alt5 is expected to bring hundreds of millions of dollars in cash benefits to the Trump family.

Controversy Over Conflicts of Interest and Market Reaction

The close corporate ties between Alt5 and World Liberty have raised scrutiny over potential conflicts of interest.

John Reed Stark, a lawyer who served at the SEC for twenty years, stated that the most surprising aspect of this series of business operations is the Trump family's openness about their profit-making efforts.

"There is a clear conflict of interest with their role as president," Stark said, "but it is noteworthy that everything they do is out in the open. In the past, such associations would have been hidden, and now the presidential family displays them like celebrating a medal of honor."

Trump's sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., both celebrated WLFI's listing on social media on Monday. Eric Trump is currently visiting Japan, having previously attended two cryptocurrency-related events in Hong Kong to promote the company's products.

Meanwhile, some industry news outlets reported that the relationship between the project and Alt5 may be under review by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but Alt5 denied these reports. As of Monday, neither Eric Trump nor World Liberty had responded to media requests for comments.

Paper Wealth of $5 Billion, but Liquidity is Limited

With WLFI launching for trading, the Trump family's cryptocurrency wealth has achieved a paper leap. As of Monday afternoon, the 2.25 billion WLFI tokens they control are valued at approximately $5 billion.

Additionally, the holdings of partners are also quite valuable. The Witkoff family and other investors, including Chase Herro and Zachary Folkman, control 3.75 billion tokens, which, based on Monday's closing price, have a total value of about $1.7 billion.

However, this wealth currently remains on paper. World Liberty announced on Monday that the tokens held by the management team, including the Trump family, the Witkoff family, and other partners, are still locked and cannot be sold on the open marketRisk Warning and Disclaimer

The market has risks, and investment requires caution. This article does not constitute personal investment advice and does not take into account the specific investment goals, financial situation, or needs of individual users. Users should consider whether any opinions, views, or conclusions in this article are suitable for their specific circumstances. Investment based on this is at one's own risk