The Trump family’s next crypto play isn’t a goofy memecoin with his face on it.

It’s a stablecoin called USD1, part of a bigger move called World Liberty Financial (WLFI).

With USD1, they can cut institutional deals—think “buy a truckload of treasuries, get a stablecoin minted to match”—and run those deals through crypto rails.

Most of the current supply appeared in three days thanks to a $2B “investment” from Abu Dhabi’s MGX fund. Think of it as stablecoins as geopolitical IOUs.

WLFI is the governance token that rides shotgun on this machine. (In short: USD1 is the money; WLFI is the steering wheel.)

Based on the given timeline, the WLFI token is expected to officially launch to the public between August 26 and September 15, 2025.

Although some are speculating on pre-market IOUs, there are things you need to know.

The Gilded Backchannel

First…

The family reportedly holds around 22.5% of the 100 billion token supply. When you include allied insiders, reports suggest as much as 60–70% of WLFI is in their orbit.

On top of that, the family has apparently structured the deal so they receive 75% of all net revenue from token sales…

Meaning they receive outsized benefits regardless of how the wider tokenholder base votes.

In short…

The setup gives the appearance of decentralized community decision-making but leaves real power in the hands of those who already own most of the stake.

Regardless, WLFI has drawn in a handful of deep-pocketed, politically connected buyers.

Tron founder Justin Sun reportedly took a $75 million stake, a move that raised eyebrows given his past regulatory troubles.

But the largest publicly known WLFI buy so far came from the UAE-linked Aqua 1 Foundation, which invested $100 million and has hinted at ambitions to co-develop blockchain projects globally.

On the corporate side, publicly traded ALT5 Sigma agreed to a $1.5 billion raise that includes acquiring roughly 7.5% of WLFI’s total supply.

But, again, the Trump family’s direct involvement in ALT5’s share placement, plus Eric Trump and Zach Witkoff joining the board, only reinforces the insider control narrative.

Pre-Market Warnings

WLFI had a low-priced ICO, no-trading clauses, and a year-long lock-up. Those clauses are about to expire this year.

Pre-market trades have pushed WLFI to 32 cents—at a $32 billion market cap—with a lot of hype. Those trades are primarily happening on Whales Market.

Here’s the problem, if you’re thinking of going this route:

If you buy WLFI in the pre-market, you’re not getting the actual tokens right away—you’re getting a contract (an IOU) promising to deliver them at launch.

And the catch:

The seller can choose to pay you cash (USD1) equal to double your original investment instead of giving you the tokens.

This has happened before with other crypto launches. In fact, it’s common in illiquid, hyped launches where:

1. The token’s listing price jumps well above the pre-sale/OTC price.
2. The agreement gives the seller an “or cash equivalent” delivery option.

Which is why some traders are opting for “beta plays”.

Golder Pastures

WLFI and USD1 aren’t being built as isolated products—they’re meant to run on multiple blockchains, and Ethereum is the largest, deepest-liquidity, most institution-friendly base layer in that mix.

When a major token launch (like WLFI) drives hype in the crypto market…

Large-cap “blue chips” tied to its ecosystem, especially ETH, tend to rally first because they’re liquid, easy to access, and institutions can size into them without moving the market too much.

In short, WLFI is a power play.

Could it pump? Absolutely.

But the mechanics, insider concentration, and pre-market traps make it less an open market opportunity and more a private club with public optics.

When the launch window hits, I’ll be watching ETH… and other DeFi plays that could benefit.