World Liberty Financial Tries to Calm Furious Early WLFI Buyers with Slow Token Unlock Plan

World Liberty Financial (WLFI) is scrambling to contain mounting backlash from early retail investors frustrated by locked tokens and slow access to their holdings. The Trump family-linked crypto venture announced plans for a phased WLFI token unlock, but only after community input and a formal governance vote. This cautious approach avoids releasing all tokens at once, opting instead for a long-term vesting schedule that will keep most tokens restricted for the foreseeable future.

Currently, only about 24.67% of WLFI’s 100 billion token supply is unlocked and transferable, according to Tokenomist data. The majority—over 75%—remains locked or subject to future unlock decisions. This bottleneck has sparked growing complaints from early buyers who say their liquidity is unfairly delayed, even as other parts of the supply become freely tradable.

The WLFI governance proposal, expected next week, would set out a phased release structure specifically for tokens held by early retail investors. But it explicitly rules out an immediate full unlock, prolonging the wait for many holders. This comes nearly 18 months after WLFI’s public sale launched in October 2024, and well past the minimum 12-month lock-up period spelled out in the original sale terms.

Frustration among early buyers has escalated to threats of legal action in both the United States and the Netherlands. At least one self-identified WLFI presale participant claims legal notices have been filed against World Liberty Financial and its backers for failing to deliver timely liquidity.

Adding fuel to the fire, questions are swirling around World Liberty Financial’s onchain financial dealings. Community members have raised alarms over the project’s treasury borrowing activities, which include a $75 million stablecoin loan from Dolomite secured by WLFI tokens. These moves have deepened concerns about transparency and the true financial health of the project.

This token lockup saga is the latest chapter in a pattern of opaque and self-serving practices by World Liberty Financial—a project already notorious for using unregulated crypto sales to enrich the Trump family and their allies. The drawn-out token restrictions and governance hurdles serve as a stark reminder that early investors may be little more than pawns in a high-stakes political and financial game.

We will keep watching as this governance proposal unfolds and early WLFI buyers fight to reclaim control over their assets. The stakes are high, and the Trump family’s crypto scheme is far from over.