World Liberty Financial, the crypto venture co-founded by President Trump and his sons, has published a governance proposal that would delay when early investors can freely trade much of their holdings. Under the measure posted on the project's governance forum, the firm would block trading of the early investors' tokens for two years, followed by a further two-year vesting schedule.
The proposal affects roughly 17 billion tokens held by early investors. If the measure is approved in the planned vote next week, those holders would be unable to liquidate their full allocations until 2030 - a year after the president is scheduled to leave office.
World Liberty Financial's spokesman David Wachsman characterized the measure as a long-term alignment tool. "This proposal was designed to optimally ensure long-term participation in our ecosystem and help ensure healthy market supply," he said in a statement.
The governance change would also apply to the tokens that the project's founders hold personally - a group that includes the president and his three sons. For those founder-held tokens, the proposal adds an extra year of vesting and calls for the deletion, or "burn," of 10% of their holdings.
Notably, the proposal does not alter the distribution terms tied to the project's token sales. Under the current token-sale framework, 75% of proceeds from new token issuances are directed to the Trump family. When asked if World Liberty plans to continue token sales, Wachsman replied, "Stay tuned to World Liberty's official X account for updates."
The governance push comes against a backdrop of mounting investor frustration. Many token purchasers say the company has effectively frozen their funds while extracting hundreds of millions of dollars for itself. Analysis shows the Trump family has already taken more than $1 billion from World Liberty, and early investors say they had been hoping for a similar payout.
Investor complaints center on several governance and transparency issues. Token holders and commenters on social media and the project's governance forum have criticized what they describe as centralized decision-making, a lack of meaningful responses to community concerns, and an opaque approach to corporate actions. Those who bought tokens on secondary markets would not be directly subject to the proposed vesting extension, but they would need to lock their tokens for six months if they wish to vote in governance matters.
Some investors have objected to perceived voting imbalances tied to large token wallets and to a newly introduced investor tier called "Super Node." That tier offers "guaranteed direct access" to the World Liberty Financial team to participants who lock at least $5 million worth of tokens for six months. Critics contend that such a privileged class of holders appears to contradict earlier marketing that promised to democratize access to finance.
The tension intensified after World Liberty Financial disclosed it had borrowed $75 million against its own token holdings. Many investors expressed concern that leveraging the company's token reserve could later translate into increased market supply, especially at a time when the token's price recently registered an all-time low of $0.78 on April 12.
In response to questions about the loan, Wachsman said, "We are committed to sound risk management and continuously evaluate our positions and collateral structure." Following a surge of investor criticism online, World Liberty reported on X on April 10 that it had repaid $25 million of the $75 million borrowing.
World Liberty launched roughly one month before the U.S. presidential election, with executives promoting the project as a way to bring crypto to a broad base of users, including teachers, dentists and firemen. In September, the company permitted early investors to trade 20% of their tokens for the first time, while stating that the remaining 80% would be unlocked at a later date.
With the new governance proposal now on the table, token holders and other market participants will watch the upcoming vote closely to see whether World Liberty's rules for token distribution, founder holdings and governance access will be tightened further amid ongoing investor unease.
Key points
- World Liberty's proposal would lock early investors out of trading 80% of their tokens for two years, followed by two years of vesting; full access for early holders would not occur until 2030.
- The founders - the president and his three sons - would face an additional year of vesting and a 10% burn of their tokens under the proposal; token sale terms that allocate 75% of new proceeds to the Trump family are unchanged.
- The move follows investor complaints about frozen funds, a recent $75 million loan taken against the firm's tokens, and concerns over centralized governance and privileged investor tiers.
Summary of sectors impacted
- Cryptocurrency and digital asset markets - token supply, trading liquidity and investor confidence.
- Retail and institutional investors in tokenized instruments - governance rights and access.
- Broader fintech and finance access narratives - questions about democratization and privileged investor tiers.
Risks and uncertainties
- Liquidity constraints for early token holders - prolonged lockups may prevent investors from realizing value and could affect secondary market liquidity.
- Concentration of influence - large wallets and "Super Node" privileges may centralize governance and undermine claims of broad-based access to finance.
- Balance-sheet and collateral risk - borrowing against the firm's token holdings raises concerns that further uses of those tokens could add sell pressure, particularly after a recent low in the token price.