Research Report: Trump Family-Related Token WLFI May Serve as an "Early Warning Signal" for the Crypto Market

PANews reported on February 15th that, according to Cointelegraph, a research report released by data provider Amberdata suggests that WLFI, the DeFi governance token associated with the Trump family, may have issued a warning signal five hours before the massive liquidation event in the crypto market on October 10th last year. On that day, the market liquidated approximately $6.93 billion in leveraged positions in less than an hour, with Bitcoin falling by about 15%, Ethereum by about 20%, and some small-cap tokens falling by as much as 70%. Amberdata found that WLFI began to fall sharply more than five hours before the broader market decline, while Bitcoin was still trading around $121,000 and showing no obvious pressure. Report author Mike Marshall stated that a five-hour lead time is difficult to dismiss as a coincidence, distinguishing it from a truly actionable warning and statistical artifacts.

Researchers analyzed three unusual patterns: a surge in trading activity, a significant divergence from Bitcoin's price action, and extreme leverage levels. WLFI's hourly trading volume spiked to approximately $474 million within minutes of the release of tariff-related political news, 21.7 times the normal level. Simultaneously, WLFI perpetual contract funding rates reached approximately 2.87% per eight hours, translating to an annualized borrowing cost of nearly 131%. The report did not assert the existence of insider trading, but noted that the structure of the crypto market may make certain assets more important than their market capitalization.