The Trump family’s crypto platform, World Liberty Financial, is facing strong backlash after proposing to lock tokens bought by early investors for up to four years — and, for holders who reject the new schedule, potentially indefinitely.
The proposal posted to the platform’s governance forum says early investors’ WLFI tokens would remain locked for an additional two years, then be released in batches over the following two years. It also states that tokenholders who do not accept the schedule would “continue to have their tokens locked indefinitely.”
The plan drew wide criticism. Justin Sun, an adviser to World Liberty and its largest investor, called the proposal “one of the most absurd governance scams I have ever seen” on X. Sun said he holds a 4% stake that is currently frozen and accused the platform of coercion by threatening indefinite locks. He also said being frozen forces him out of the voting process and that many significant holders are similarly affected.
Simon Dedic, founder of Moonrock Capital, said early WLFI investors “who thought they were sitting on solid profits just got rugged,” arguing the proposal gives the platform another chance to extract value from the token’s remaining momentum.
World Liberty Financial did not answer detailed questions about the backlash. Spokesman David Wachsman said in an emailed statement the proposal “was designed to further align all the participants in the WLFI ecosystem for the long run.” He added voting would begin soon and run for a week.
WLFI’s price has traded around $0.08 over the past 24 hours and is down more than 40% so far this year amid broader market weakness. The token has fallen over 75% from its all-time high of $0.33 on Sept. 1, the day it began public trading after holders voted to allow trading on what had been a non-tradable token.
The dispute follows earlier tensions between Sun and World Liberty, including public disagreements over a separate proposal and accusations that the platform could blacklist wallets — an allegation World Liberty denied. The latest governance move and the ensuing outcry highlight growing scrutiny over token control, voting rights and the management of crypto projects tied to prominent political figures.