# World Liberty Financial (WLFI) > **Tier 1 super-watch** (since 2026-10-08). Full dossier: [[World Liberty Financial Dossier]] · running feed: [[World Liberty Financial Watch Log]] · ownership: [[World Liberty Financial Investors]] · stablecoin: [[World Liberty Financial USD1 Ledger]] · regulators: [[World Liberty Financial Regulatory File]] · context: [[OCC Charter Wave]]. Trump family-controlled DeFi platform on Ethereum, launched 2024 before the $TRUMP memecoin. Sister enterprise to the [[$TRUMP Memecoin Universe]] in the broader [[Trump Crypto Ventures]] portfolio — and the one with the larger dollar extraction to date ($1.2B+ in family cash-outs over 16 months per early 2026 reporting). ## Corporate Structure - **Founded:** 2024 by [[Chase Herro]], [[Zak Folkman]], [[Alex Witkoff]], and [[Zach Witkoff]] (with [[Eric Trump]]), with Trump family participation from launch. - **Ownership (corrected 2026-10-08):** the Trump family's equity, held through DT Marks DEFI LLC, fell from about 75% (Dec 2024) to 60% (early 2025) to 40% (June 2025), and is about **38%** today (38.25% of WLF Holdco LLC and of Stablecoin Holdco LLC per the president's 2025 OGE filing). Separately, DT Marks DEFI is entitled to **75% of net token-sale revenue**, and that share has not been reported as cut. [[Zach Witkoff]] is CEO. Details: [[World Liberty Financial Investors]]. - **Token:** WLFI governance token on Ethereum (launch predates $TRUMP). - **Stablecoin:** USD1, announced 2025 for payment use within the platform. - **Notable backer/owner revelations:** - **January 16, 2025:** Aryam Investment 1, backed by [[Tahnoon bin Zayed]] of the [[United Arab Emirates]], signed for a **49% stake for $500 million**, four days before the inauguration. [[Eric Trump]] signed. It stayed secret until the *Wall Street Journal* reported it on February 1, 2026 (see [[World Liberty Financial UAE Sale]]). *(Corrected 2026-10-08: an earlier version dated the sale to early 2026.)* - [[Steve Witkoff]] (Trump's Middle East envoy and Zach's father) had not divested as of September 2025 despite Senate Democrats' demands; the White House now says he has "fully divested," and his 2025 disclosures show about $107M from a WLF-affiliated holding company. ## Overlap With the $TRUMP Memecoin WLFI is a separate product from $TRUMP, but the ecosystems overlap at several points: - **Whales in both:** [[Justin Sun]] was both a major $TRUMP gala attendee *and* one of the largest WLFI holders (~545M tokens). - **Personnel:** [[Chase Herro]] and [[Zak Folkman]] operate WLFI; Herro's prior Dough Finance venture collapsed after a $2.5M flash-loan exploit. The "operator class" around both tokens is the same crypto fringe. - **Regulatory umbrella:** Both benefit from the [[SEC Memecoin Non-Action Statement]] and the general deregulatory shift — though WLFI's pitch is "DeFi protocol" rather than "memecoin." ## The Justin Sun Blacklist Incident (Sept 2025) In September 2025, WLFI **blacklisted [[Justin Sun]]'s wallet** after he attempted to move $9M in WLFI tokens. The smart contract was found to contain a **"trap door" freeze/blacklist function** allowing unilateral token confiscation — unusual for a "decentralized" protocol. Sun's subsequent claims: - He is WLFI's single largest investor. - He is losing ~$70M because of the freeze. - WLFI is being operated as the Trump family's "personal ATM." WLFI's response: essentially "see you in court." The incident demonstrates concretely what crypto critics have argued abstractly about the Trump family's crypto ventures — the "decentralized" protocols are centralized in the ways that matter most (who can freeze assets, who can exit). ## The Witkoff Dimension [[Steve Witkoff]]'s role compounds the conflict: - He is Trump's Special Envoy to the Middle East. - His son runs WLFI. - WLFI has received Middle Eastern sovereign-linked investment. - He personally holds WLFI tokens. - Senate Democrats (Schiff/Warren) have demanded divestment since October 2025 with no compliance. This creates a circuit where a U.S. diplomat negotiates with Middle Eastern governments while his family's crypto venture receives investment from entities tied to those same governments. ## The Bank Charter Application On **January 5, 2026**, WLF filed with the [[OCC]] to charter **World Liberty Trust Company, N.A.**, a national trust bank to issue and custody [[USD1]]. *(Corrected 2026-10-08: an earlier version said late 2025 and described Federal Reserve and FDIC access. A trust charter takes no insured deposits, and the approval bars deposit-taking.)* What the charter confers is federal legitimacy and preemption, the thing institutional counterparties need before they can deal with a stablecoin issuer. It is not unique: the OCC has granted the same kind of charter to Circle, Ripple, Coinbase and about twenty others. See [[OCC Charter Wave]]. **It was granted, conditionally, on August 14, 2026.** The [[OCC]] gave World Liberty Trust Co. preliminary conditional approval for a national trust charter — the first time a company owned by a sitting president's family has been granted bank status. Full details, including the capital condition that must be satisfied before it can open, are at [[World Liberty Trust OCC Bank Charter Approval]]. Thirteen days later the *Wall Street Journal* reported the ownership. **StringZ Holding RSC — [[Tahnoon bin Zayed]], the UAE's national security adviser, and co-investors — holds 49% of the bank's holding company**, with a Trump-family-affiliated entity at 38%. The same investor group had bought 49% of WLFI itself for $500 million in January 2025 (see [[World Liberty Financial UAE Sale]]). The Abu Dhabi position therefore now runs from the token venture through to a federally supervised institution. ## Why It Matters for the Memecoin Story WLFI is the "serious business" sibling of the $TRUMP memecoin. Both extract value from Trump family association; WLFI does so with DeFi branding, a stablecoin, and a bank charter application, while $TRUMP does so with pure memecoin mechanics. Both route benefits to the same ultimate family beneficiaries. The existence of WLFI as a "legitimate" Trump crypto project provides narrative cover for the $TRUMP memecoin's more naked grift — "of course the serious product is WLFI; the memecoin is just for fun." ## See Also - [[$TRUMP Memecoin Universe]] - [[Trump Crypto Ventures]] - [[Crypto-Political Machine]] - [[Chase Herro]] - [[Zak Folkman]] - [[Zach Witkoff]] - [[Steve Witkoff]] - [[Justin Sun]] - [[David Sacks]] - [[World Liberty Financial Dossier]] — Tier 1 dossier - [[OCC Charter Wave]] — WLF's charter against the rest of the wave - [[World Liberty Trust OCC Bank Charter Approval]] — the charter, granted August 14, 2026 - [[BitGo]] · [[ALT5 Sigma]] · [[USD1]] - [[World Liberty Financial UAE Sale]] — the January 2025 $500M Abu Dhabi stake - [[Tahnoon bin Zayed]] — behind 49% of both the venture and the bank holding company - [[Emoluments Clauses]] - [[Strategic Bitcoin Reserve]] — the federal reserve policy that legitimizes the family's crypto holdings