(Kitco News) – The Trump family is going full speed ahead with their plans to launch a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform to tackle issues such as the de-banking of conservative voices as Donald Trump Sr., the 2024 Republican presidential nominee, announced that World Liberty Financial (WLFI) will launch on Monday.
Trump made the announcement via a video posted to X on Thursday, saying he would go live on Twitter Spaces at 8 pm on Sept. 16 for the launch of World Liberty Financial.
“We’re embracing the future with crypto and leaving the slow and outdated big banks behind,” he said.
Details about the platform are sparse at this point, aside from several cryptic tweets from Trump and his sons that have suggested the project will be a DeFi platform for borrowing and lending.
According to a leaked draft copy of the white paper for the project, it will allow users to store money in a digital wallet, offer a credit account system, and enable them to borrow or lend cash to others and use tokens to invest in assets like crypto. The plans also detailed the introduction of a nontransferable governance token for the protocol.
A statement from World Liberty Financial indicates that another primary focus will be on encouraging the use of U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoins to “ensure US dollar dominance.”
“Our mission is crystal clear: Make crypto and America great by driving the mass adoption of stablecoins and decentralized finance,” the company said in an X post. “We believe that DeFi is the future, and we’re committed to making it accessible and secure for everyone.”
To achieve this goal, WLFI is focused on promoting the use of USD-pegged stablecoins, such as Tether (USDT) and Circle’s USDC – the two leading stablecoins with a combined market cap of over $153 billion.
“Here’s why stablecoins matter: We want U.S.-pegged stablecoins to remain the world’s settlement layer for the next 100 years,” they said. “The U.S. dollar has been the backbone of global finance for decades, but it’s now under attack by foreign nation-states. By spreading U.S.-pegged stablecoins around the world, we ensure that the U.S. dollar’s dominance continues, securing America’s financial leadership and influence on the global stage.”
While the platform is now focused on promoting USD-pegged stablecoins and DeFi, the impetus for its creation stemmed from what the Trump family sees as an attack on conservative voices. This arose from stories of right-leaning individuals having their bank accounts frozen or closed, including former Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage and those who participated in the Canadian trucking protest against the COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
While the finer details have yet to be revealed, one thing is clear: the purpose of the platform will be to challenge the established banking order.
“What we want to do is take on a lot of the banking world,” Donald Trump Jr. said in early August. “I think there has been a lot of inequality in that only certain people can get financing [...] so this notion of decentralized finance is obviously very appealing to guys like me who have been debanked.”
Discussing cryptocurrencies and DeFi with the New York Post, Eric Trump called them “Digital real estate.”
“It’s equitable. It’s collateral anyone can get access to and do so instantly,” he added. “I don’t know if people realize what a shake-up that is for the world of banking and finance. I hope we can help change that.”
“Essentially over half this country right now cannot be banked,” he told the Post. “Meaning they will be rejected for most loans from most institutions. But with this technology they could have the ability to almost instantaneously be approved or denied from a lender based on math, not policy. Money could be in their account in minutes, not months.”
As with all things Trump, the sentiment around World Liberty Financial has been mixed, with some questioning Trump’s decision to launch the project just 50 days before the election.
Despite the detractors, WLFI is set to go live on Monday, and could potentially find support from Americans increasingly disillusioned with the state of the U.S. economy while its business as usual for big banks and the financial elite.
"For too long, the average American has been squeezed by the big banks and financial elites,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “It's time we take a stand – together. #BeDefiant.”
