Trump-Backed World Liberty Puts $5.3 Million Price Tag on ‘Guaranteed Access’ to Team

World Liberty Financial, the decentralized finance project backed by U.S. President Donald Trump and his sons, approved a measure on Friday that allows big-time investors to access members of its team based on their financial alignment.

The shift stems from a governance vote that concluded last week, in which 99% of participants voted in favor of changes centered around World Liberty Financial’s native token and USD1, a $4.5 billion stablecoin unveiled by the project nearly a year ago.  (Disclosure: Myriad, a prediction market operated by Decrypt’s parent company Dastan, recently adopted USD1 as its “exclusive settlement asset.”)

Under a three-tiered framework, the measure establishes so-called super nodes, which gain “guaranteed access to the WLFI team for partnership discussions.” In order to attain that status, investors need to lock up 50 million WLFI tokens for a minimum of 180 days.

The access entails facetime with WLFI’s business development team and executives, “not to specific founders,” WLFI spokesperson David Wachman told Reuters. Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Barron Trump are listed as co-founders in the project’s “gold paper,” as well as two sons for Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East.

With WLFI recently changing hands around $0.106 on Monday, securing super node status would cost roughly $5.3 million, according to data from CoinGecko. When the token was valued at a peak of 33 cents in September, becoming a super node would cost more than $15 million. WLFI is up about 3% over the last day, close to the broader rise in the crypto market during that span.

In the governance forum, WLFI described the threshold as a “filter to prioritize projects and platforms that are actively supporting and participating in the WLFI ecosystem, rather than those seeking partnership on a purely opportunistic basis,” while citing heightened interest.

Investors need 10 million WLFI—about $1.06 million worth—to be eligible for the next lowest tier, which gives “nodes” the ability to exchange USD1 for other stablecoins at par via over-the-counter trades. The project said that shift is aimed at redirecting value “from a small number of intermediaries to long-term ecosystem participants,” while potentially pressuring demand for alternatives.

When World Liberty Financial debuted in 2024, the project was billed as a way to democratize digital finance. However, the framework approved on Friday requires that “stakers” lock up their tokens for at least 180 days to participate in WLFI’s governance process.

What’s more, the project is moving forward with restrictions for rewards for stakers. In order to be able to earn 2% annually on tokens that are locked up, investors need to participate in at least two governance votes during a specific period.

WLFI is opening up access to its team after Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) launched an investigation into the Trump family’s crypto dealings. His calls in February specifically centered on a $500 million investment by a United Arab Emirates royal family member in WLFI. 

Khanna expressed concern that the investment may have impacted the Trump administration’s decision to reverse restrictions and approved export licenses that once prevented the UAE from accessing tens of thousands of advanced AI chips.

The Trump family’s involvement in digital assets has drawn criticism from other influential Democrats, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who has also expressed alarm regarding WLFI’s efforts to gain a banking charter under the supervision of federal regulators.

“President Trump’s crypto company is now at the center of perhaps the most disgraceful presidential corruption scandal in U.S. history,” Warren said. “An American president who sells out our national security to make money for himself.”

Last week, the team behind the president’s Solana-based meme coin—a separate project from World Liberty Financial—offered exclusive access in its own way. The team teased an event featuring the president for top TRUMP holders, which is set to take place next month at the president’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.