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Donald Trump has posted a video encouraging his followers to purchase a cryptocurrency supported by his family after the new token’s sale went live.
On October 15, World Liberty Financial crypto tokens were made available to purchase, Bloomberg reported—with each of the ethereum-based $WLFI tokens costing $0.015.
In a video on his X account, the former president announced the sale, saying: “Big news. The World Liberty Financial token sale is now live. Crypto is the future. Let’s embrace this incredible technology and lead the world in digital economy.” The video has received more than 8 million views.
Trump, the Republican presidential nominee in November’s election, has recently become a crypto proponent. However, he has not always supported the technology, previously saying the cryptocurrency bitcoin “just seems like a scam.”
Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP
On its X account, World Liberty Financial also advertised the sale of the token, highlighting an offer that gave buyers a “limited-time 1.5x bonus,” which the post said would expire in three hours.
According to Bloomberg, as of 1:48 p.m. on Tuesday, more than 500 million of the tokens had been sold. The crypto news site CoinDesk reported that, with a $300 million goal through the sale of 20 billion tokens, by the early hours of Wednesday morning, the company had sold more than 750 million tokens.
The World Liberty Financial site reportedly crashed shortly after the tokens went on sale. Newsweek has contacted World Liberty Financial via its X account for comment.
According to the company’s website, Trump holds the title of “chief crypto advocate,” while his sons—Eric, Barron and Donald Trump Jr.—are “Web3 ambassadors.”
The website also said a benefit of owning $WLFI was that you’d “instantly gain a voice in shaping the future of DeFi.”
CoinDesk reported that the Trump family-backed company had more than 100,000 accredited U.S. investors white-listed ahead of its launch on Tuesday.
However, Etherscan data showed that there were about 8,500 holders of the tokens.
Accredited investors are those able to buy shares in new businesses that have not yet gone public.
To do so, they must have an annual income of more than $200,000 or work in the financial industry, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
They must also have a net worth of more than $1 million, excluding their primary residence.
To purchase the $WLFI tokens, buyers must have a Web3 wallet, which the company described as the digital tool to store the keys “essential for accessing and managing your blockchain assets.”
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