On September 1st at 20:00, the cryptocurrency market witnessed history once again. The WLFI token officially began trading on mainstream exchanges like BitMart, igniting the market at the moment of opening. On-chain and exchange activities seemed to have been pressed with the acceleration button: Gas prices soared instantly, retail investors scrambled to place orders, whales were busy offloading, and the community was flooded with messages about red envelope rains and liquidation news.
WLFI, short for World Liberty Financial, inherently attracts attention due to its deep ties with the Trump family. In previous narratives, WLFI has been described as a blend of "politics + finance + meme," representing an attempt at liquidity in the crypto world and an extension of political influence into the crypto market.
Before its launch, WLFI experienced a "minor episode": the market initially expected an initial circulation of around 5 billion tokens, but the final confirmed number was 24.669 billion, nearly five times higher than expected. This "extra 19 billion" directly breached investors' psychological defenses, causing a sharp decline in pre-market prices.
However, the sentiment in the crypto market never solely follows rationality. By the time of the official launch, WLFI's price quickly rebounded, reaching as high as $0.458 on-chain, with BitMart briefly spiking to $1.06. For early public offering participants, this meant tens of times in paper profits, and the market's enthusiasm naturally became uncontrollable.
In this context, the most concerning question for everyone is quite simple: Who exactly benefited from WLFI's wealth effect?
Trump Family: $5 Billion in Paper Wealth and Clever Monetization
The Trump family is undoubtedly the biggest winner from WLFI's listing. According to estimates by The Wall Street Journal, the Trump family has gained approximately $5 billion in paper wealth through their holdings in WLFI, likely marking the family's greatest success in the financial sector since Trump's presidency.
The White House disclosed in Trump's 2025 financial status document that he personally holds 15.75% of the total supply, or 1.575 billion WLFI tokens, in his crypto wallet. Based on WLFI's current market price, these tokens are valued at over $3.62 billion.
Of course, it is worth noting that the project team claims that the founding team's tokens are subject to a lock-up mechanism. However, in the general market perception, political families do not merely rely on "holding and waiting"; they may also achieve partial liquidity through partner institutions or indirect channels. Therefore, the Trump family's profits represent not only paper numbers but also potentially more complex capital operations behind them.
This phenomenon has sparked differing opinions in the market. On one hand, supporters believe that the Trump family's involvement enhances WLFI's credibility and political influence; on the other hand, some worry that this concentrated wealth effect may increase the speculative nature of the project.
On-Chain Whales: Precise Layout and the Art of High-Position Cashing Out
If the Trump family is the political symbol of the WLFI story, then the on-chain whales are another type of "actual operators." With substantial funds and a keen grasp of early subscriptions, they have become one of the biggest beneficiaries of this event.
On-chain data shows that the investment returns for whales in WLFI are astonishing. Smart money addresses that participated in the private placement began an impressive "harvesting" performance after the token circulated. According to monitoring by Lookonchain, three WLFI presale participants immediately transferred a total of 160 million tokens to exchanges after WLFI deposits opened, clearly preparing to cash out. These addresses purchased tokens at $0.015 during the private placement and, at an average price of $0.3, achieved a 20-fold return.
The operations of whale moonmanifest are even more representative. He subscribed to 1 billion WLFI (at a price of $0.015) with 15 million USDC in the first round of public offerings, subsequently receiving 200 million unlocked tokens and selling 10 million WLFI, recouping $2.1 million, gradually implementing the classic strategy of "withdrawing principal first, letting profits run."
On-chain analyst Ai Yi found that among the top 10 individual holders of WLFI, four chose to sell part or all of their holdings, with 80% of holders opting for partial or full profit-taking. Whale convexcuck.eth even sold $3.8 million worth of WLFI to 36 buyers through the over-the-counter trading platform Whales Market.
Ordinary Users: Airdrops, Trading, and Arbitrage Opportunities
For ordinary users, there are mainly three ways to participate in the wealth distribution of WLFI, each with different risks and returns.
The safest way to participate is to receive airdrops from exchanges. Exchanges like BitMart launched Powerdrop events, allowing users to earn WLFI tokens for free by completing tasks like signing in and trading. This is a zero-cost, no-risk way to participate, where users essentially earn the marketing expenses of the platform.
The second method is trading in the secondary market, which is the most common choice among retail investors. In the early stages of WLFI's launch, there were significant price differences across different exchanges, providing savvy traders with arbitrage opportunities. Some experienced traders profited through "inter-exchange arbitrage" strategies: buying on exchanges with lower prices while selling on those with higher prices to earn the price difference. However, this strategy requires quick execution and low-fee accounts, posing a higher barrier for ordinary users.
The riskiest strategy is the "opening rush" strategy—quickly buying tokens when they first land on major exchanges, hoping to sell for a profit after a rapid price increase. Taking BitMart, which first launched WLFI, as an example, the opening price was $0.17, with a peak price of $1.06, showing a significant profit margin.
Overall, the profit avenues for ordinary users are relatively limited, with most earning marginal gains through activities and early participation. This also reveals a reality: in the wealth distribution of the crypto market, capital and information often determine the ceiling for profits.
Summary and Reflection
The wealth story of WLFI is a microcosm of the cryptocurrency market—information, capital, and influence determine the distribution of returns.
The Trump family gained the largest share through their influence; whales obtained excess returns through early layouts and precise operations; ordinary users can only seek profit opportunities within limited chances.
With the new governance proposal for WLFI coming online (which plans to use the fees earned from protocol liquidity for buybacks and token burns), the token's value may receive further support. However, market participants need to be aware that high returns inevitably come with high risks.
In the cryptocurrency market, earning profits within the realm of understanding is the most important survival rule.
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
