World Liberty Financial, a decentralized lending platform backed by allies of President-elect Donald Trump, has announced Tron TRON/USD founder Justin Sun as its new advisor.
What Happened: The decision follows a $30 million investment by HTX, a crypto exchange closely associated with Sun, according to on-chain data.
“We are thrilled to invest $30 million in World Liberty Financial (@worldlibertyfi) as its largest investor,” Sun wrote in a pinned post on X.
“The U.S. is becoming the blockchain hub, and Bitcoin owes it to @realDonaldTrump! TRON is committed to making America great again and leading innovation,” he added.
World Liberty Financial, launched in September 2014 as an Aave AAVE/USD fork, represents one of Trump’s most significant ventures into cryptocurrency.
Once a vocal skeptic of digital assets, the incoming president has recently embraced the industry, promising to ease regulations on blockchain innovation and digital assets in the U.S.
Also Read: Pantera Bitcoin Fund Hits 1,000X Return, Predicts BTC At $740,000 By 2028
Why It Matters: The announcement comes as World Liberty’s governance token sale struggles to gain momentum. Initially targeting a $300 million raise, the platform reduced its goal to $30 million in October due to limited demand.
As of Monday, World Liberty had sold $21 million worth of WLFI tokens, with sales restricted to non-U.S. and qualified U.S. investors.
Justin Sun’s appointment as an advisor is expected to provide strategic direction for World Liberty Financial.
Sun, a University of Pennsylvania graduate like Trump, has gained notoriety for high-profile investments, including purchasing a banana duct-taped to a wall for $6.2 million at a Sotheby’s auction.
The firm’s co-founder, Zak Folkman, commented on the relevance of these symbolic acquisitions, noting a series of recent “similarly significant purchases” aligned with Sun’s investment.
Sun’s blockchain, Tron, remains one of the largest by market capitalization.
Its TRX token initially launched as an ERC-20 standard before migrating to the native Tron network.
Despite the announcement, TRX saw a 4.6% decline in value on Tuesday.
Read Next:
Photo: Shutterstock
Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
