Most major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), experienced modest declines after the Federal Reserve opted to keep interest rates unchanged, while ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East added to market uncertainty.
World Liberty Financial (WLFI), however, endured much steeper losses, plunging about 16% over the past 24 hours.
Another Red Day
WLFI launched in September last year and initially gained rapid momentum, with its price approaching $0.25 and its market capitalization topping $6.6 billion. In the months since, the token has been on a prolonged downtrend, and the latest 24-hour slide pushed it to roughly $0.06—establishing a new all-time low.
The recent decline followed a contentious governance proposal submitted in mid-April that went live for voting on April 29. The plan concerns more than 62 billion locked WLFI tokens and would keep those tokens off the market for at least two years if approved.
Under the proposal, founders, team members, and partners could have up to 45.2 billion tokens moved into a new two-year lock, with an option to burn 4.5 billion tokens if they choose to participate. Early supporters could have up to 17 billion tokens reallocated to the same lock with later vesting and without any burn. The vote was set to remain open through May 6, and at the time of reporting, approximately 99.94% of participants had supported the measure.
WLFI’s perceived ties to former President Donald Trump and his inner circle sparked additional backlash after the token’s collapse. Some analysts and commentators argued that the token’s associations contributed to the heavy losses suffered by investors.
For example, social media commentator Carl Moon wrote to his 1.5 million followers that “Trump’s family has ruined crypto,” noting that other tokens linked to the former president—such as TRUMP and MELANIA—have also fallen by more than 90% since launch.
Additional Drama
Beyond the governance proposal, WLFI attracted further scrutiny after Tron founder Justin Sun filed a lawsuit against the project. Sun alleged that certain team members froze all of his WLFI tokens, revoked his voting rights, and threatened to burn his holdings without adequate justification.
Despite initiating legal action, Sun affirmed his continued support for Donald Trump and for efforts by the administration to promote a crypto-friendly regulatory environment in the United States.
WLFI also faced reputational damage when reports emerged that one of its partners had previously been linked to a suspected international fraud syndicate. The partner organization, operating on a blockchain network named AB, entered into a partnership with World Liberty Financial in November of last year, drawing criticism and renewed scrutiny of the project’s alliances.