WLFI's first day of listing saw its circulation volume halved: 8 times higher than expected, with the Trump family raking in $6.5 billion.

The Trump family's cryptocurrency token, WLFI, launched on September 1st, creating significant market turbulence with its massive initial circulation and subsequent price volatility.

Massive Initial Circulation: The token debuted with a circulating supply of 24.67 billion, which was 8 times higher than the market's expectation of 3-5 billion. This led to immediate and intense selling pressure.
Early Investor Windfall: Early investors, who purchased tokens at an average cost of $0.027, saw the price surge to $0.47 at launch. This unlocked $1.9 billion in value for them, prompting a majority of the top investors to cash out and realize massive profits.
Trump Family Profits: The Trump family controls 83.7% of the initial circulating supply. They netted over $1.5 billion in cash from the token sale and hold tokens valued at approximately $8.21 billion, bringing their total proceeds to nearly $6.5 billion.
Market Impact & Volatility: The high supply and subsequent sell-off caused the price to plummet 56% from its peak to around $0.20. This triggered $12.36 million in liquidations across derivatives markets.
Ongoing Uncertainty: Despite some prominent holders like Justin Sun stating they would not sell, significant selling pressure remains. Approximately 720 million tokens from early investors are still unclaimed and could be sold at any time, adding to the downward pressure on the price.

By Frank, PANews

On September 1st, the Trump family's token, WLFI, officially launched, instantly roiling the crypto market. Upon its debut, the token vaulted into the top 25 global crypto assets with a circulating market capitalization exceeding $6 billion. However, its initial circulation, far exceeding market expectations, also sparked significant controversy and market volatility.

The massive circulating stock and the extremely low costs for early investors led to a surge in the paper profits of whales immediately after the market opened. In this capital feast, some rushed to cash out, others chose to hold on, and a large number of retail investors rushed in, chasing the ups and downs of the wildly fluctuating K-line charts and placing bets. PANews revisits WLFI's first day of listing, deconstructing the capital machinations behind this multi-billion dollar investment.

Circulation volume exceeded expectations by 8 times, and early investors unlocked $1.9 billion

The launch of WLFI was accompanied by a huge information impact, the core of which lies in a key number - the initial circulating supply. This number not only determines the market value of the token, but also directly reveals the huge network of interests and wealth distribution pattern behind the project.

According to official data released on the day of its launch, the total issuance of WLFI was 100 billion, while the initial circulation was a staggering 24.67 billion. This figure far exceeded the market's previous general expectation of 3 to 5 billion, indirectly laying the groundwork for subsequent sharp price fluctuations.

The circulating volume of 24.67 billion is as follows:

It can be seen that of all the tokens in circulation, the most direct and definite selling pressure on the market comes from the 4 billion tokens held by early investors. These investors purchased tokens through two rounds of financing at extremely low prices of $0.015 and $0.05 per token, resulting in an extremely low average cost. Faced with a multiplier return on investment after the launch, their desire to cash out is extremely strong. According to PANews' calculations, the average entry cost of these tokens is approximately $0.027.

After the opening, the price of WLFI once surged to US$0.47. Based on this calculation, the value of this part of the tokens reached US$1.9 billion. The value of this part of the circulating tokens alone is 3.48 times the initial investment of US$550 million.

Controlling over 83% of liquidity, the Trump family raked in $6.5 billion

In this token frenzy, the Trump family still benefits the most.

Of the currently circulating tokens, the Trump family controls approximately 20.6 billion, representing approximately 83.7% of the total liquidity. Of this total, World Liberty Financial holds 10 billion tokens for ecosystem development. 7.78 billion tokens are allocated to its strategic partner, Alt5 Sigma Corporation, for its treasury. 2.88 billion tokens are used to provide initial liquidity and for marketing.

It is important to note that although Alt5 Sigma Corporation is a publicly traded company, it is still controlled by the Trump family. Its WLFI treasury plan is also considered a game of transferring funds from one hand to the other.

In addition, the Trump family received $550 million in tokens from a previous fundraising round and $1.5 billion from Alt5. Overall, this token offering netted the Trump family over $1.5 billion in cash proceeds (based on a 75% share of the proceeds from the token financing sale) and approximately $5 billion in liquid token valuation. Furthermore, the current valuation of the remaining tokens is approximately $8.21 billion.

This income level has brought unprecedented wealth efficiency to the Trump family.

Most of the top 10 whales chose to take profits, and Justin Sun said he had no plans to sell.

Amidst the dramatic fluctuations on WLFI's first day of launch, the movements of several key early investors (i.e., "whales") attracted much attention from the market.

As one of the project's most prominent early investors, Justin Sun's holdings and public statements have been a focus of market attention. Sun holds approximately 3 billion WLFI tokens. According to multiple media reports, Sun invested $75 million in WLFI tokens. However, actual on-chain data suggests this investment is more like $45 million. Based on this calculation, Sun's token cost is approximately $0.015.

On the day of the launch, he unlocked 20% of his holdings, effectively releasing approximately 600 million tokens into circulation. These tokens were then valued at $178 million. Despite the staggering profits, Sun publicly stated he had no plans to sell and emphasized his confidence in the project's long-term vision. Another investment firm, DWF Labs, also expressed similar long-term support.

But apparently, many whales don't seem to have such patience. According to Aiyi's statistics, 80% of the top ten public fund investors have chosen to sell or partially sell their tokens. This has also brought huge selling pressure to the WLFI market.

As a result, WLFI's price quickly plummeted after its initial surge, dropping to a low of around $0.20, a short-term drop of 56%. Even at the current price of around $0.24, this profit still far exceeds the initial investment. Consequently, many whales opted for a pre-emptive exit strategy.

Violent price fluctuations led to large-scale liquidations in the derivatives market. According to Coinglass data, within just a few hours of WLFI's launch, total liquidations across the network reached $12.36 million, including $8.51 million in long positions and $3.85 million in short positions. This indicates that a large number of leveraged long positions, bought in pre-market, were forced to close during price corrections, further exacerbating the market decline. Prior to its launch, WLFI's total open interest approached $1 billion, setting the stage for these massive liquidations.

But the market's selling pressure may be far from over. According to a PANews investigation, as of September 2nd, approximately 3.279 billion tokens had been unlocked through smart contract interactions. This means that of the first 4 billion tokens available for unlocking, approximately 18% (approximately 720 million) remain unclaimed by investors.

Overall, the sharp fluctuations on the first day merely absorbed the initial wave of selling pressure from the unlocked tokens, but greater uncertainty remains. The 720 million unclaimed early tokens will continue to exert selling pressure on the market in the short term, while the remaining 80% of locked private placement tokens are a key variable in determining the long-term direction of the project.

The launch of WLFI was undoubtedly an unprecedented financial success for the Trump family and the project's early investors. Through sophisticated financial design and a powerful endorsement effect, it created another crypto symbol in a short period of time. However, for other market participants, whether retail investors holding high positions or leveraged traders forced to liquidate, this was only the beginning of a long game.