After the second shooting, Trump still insisted on opening the platform for the family's crypto project

Original title: "After the second shooting, Trump still insists on opening the platform for the family's crypto project"

Original text compilation and translation: Fu Ruo, Odaily Planet Daily

Recently, US presidential candidate Trump led the core team of World Liberty Financial to start an interview with Rug Radio founder Farokh on the X platform. Just one day before the live broadcast, Trump had just experienced the second shooting.

In this live broadcast, Trump elaborated on his views on the crypto industry, the US SEC's hatred of the crypto industry, the policies on the crypto industry after being elected, and NFT and other related angles.

After Trump finished the relevant interview, his good friend Steve Witkoff also expressed his views on the crypto industry and World Liberty Financial, and then the core members of World Liberty Financial also expressed their views one after another. Finally, Zak Folkman, the head of operations of World Liberty Financial, officially disclosed the relevant information of the project.

Trump's core views on the crypto industry

1. The United States should become the capital of crypto: Trump believes that the United States should act quickly to become a global leader in cryptocurrencies. If the United States does not take the initiative, countries such as China will dominate.

2. The current regulatory environment is hostile: He criticized the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its hostile attitude towards the cryptocurrency industry and believed that the Biden administration lacked support for the crypto industry. If the crypto industry does not receive a proper regulatory framework, the United States' innovation will lag behind other countries.

3. Legal framework to support the crypto industry: Trump said that the United States needs to establish a clear legal framework for the crypto industry to ensure that companies can develop domestically. He mentioned that the current operating environment for crypto entrepreneurs in the United States is full of uncertainty, and many entrepreneurs have to leave the United States.

4. Widespread use of crypto payments: He pointed out that more and more people are now using cryptocurrencies for payments, a trend that was barely seen in the past few years. He believes that cryptocurrencies will continue to grow in the future and may become a major payment method.

5. Inspiration from NFT experience: Trump was surprised by the great success of his NFT series, and through this experience he began to re-examine the potential of cryptocurrencies. He mentioned that most NFT buyers use cryptocurrencies to pay, which gave him a new understanding of crypto payments.

6. Competition in future technologies: Trump believes that the United States must maintain its leading position in future technologies such as cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence (AI), otherwise it will be surpassed by other countries. He emphasized that these technologies will become key areas of global competition.

Core views on World Liberty Financial tokens

Token plan:

· World Liberty Financial will issue governance tokens WLFI, which are dedicated to platform governance.

· The token only provides voting and proposal rights, does not have any economic rights, and is not transferable.

Purchase qualifications:

· The sale of WLFI tokens will be restricted, and US investors must be qualified investors (in compliance with Regulation D).

· Non-US sales will also comply with relevant legal provisions.

Token distribution method:

· 63% of tokens will be sold publicly, with no pre-sale or early discounts for VCs.

· 17% for user rewards and 20% for team compensation.

· Voting rights are capped at 5% to ensure fairness in governance.

"Author's subjective opinion: After watching the live broadcast, the author believes that this live broadcast is more like Trump's speech to crypto voters. It can be seen that Trump does not understand the native crypto industry in essence, and is more of a macro interpretation of the crypto industry at the national level. However, it can be seen that he recognizes the crypto industry. Judging from the answers of other core members of World Liberty Financial, the target audience of this project is not the current investors in Web3, but more of an advocacy for new users to join. Moreover, what most people say is too macro and inflammatory. No truly feasible project introduction was seen. Finally, after the head of operations Zak Folkman announced its token economics, except for the difference in token allocation from the previous disclosure of CoinDesk, the rest of the content is basically the same. The token is already non-transferable and only has governance functions."

The following is a selection of live broadcast clips, compiled and translated by Odaily Planet Daily.

Trump's views on the crypto industry

Farokh: You once said that the United States should become the global crypto capital, why is it not now?

Trump:I think the United States will soon become the capital of cryptocurrencies. Right now, the SEC is very hostile to the cryptocurrency industry, which is hard to understand, but it has to do with the current Biden administration. Their hostility is even unbelievable. I have a different attitude. I think if the United States does not take active action, China will take the lead. In fact, China is already doing this. Although the cryptocurrency industry has some problems, such as credibility issues, it is still very young and developing rapidly. If we don't take action, other countries will take the lead.

My children are very knowledgeable about cryptocurrencies, especially Barron, who has four crypto wallets. Eric and Barron are also doing well in this area. Young people often understand these technologies better than older people. I respect their judgment. Although cryptocurrencies are still in their infancy, they have huge prospects. I have noticed that more and more people are using cryptocurrencies for payment, which was a rare phenomenon a year or two ago. So I believe that cryptocurrencies will become bigger in the future.

Farokh: Why is it so important for the United States to lead in cryptocurrency adoption and innovation?

Trump: Whether it's cryptocurrency or artificial intelligence (AI), these are important technologies of the future. If the United States does not act quickly, other countries will surpass us. China is already building power facilities specifically for AI, and in the United States, it takes a long time to build power infrastructure due to environmental regulations. I will create the conditions to accelerate infrastructure construction and ensure that the United States leads in technologies such as AI and cryptocurrency.

The United States must lead in all key areas, especially in technologies such as cryptocurrency and AI. Just like space exploration, the United States has become a global leader again under my administration, and Musk has also made outstanding achievements in this regard. He is my friend and has firmly supported me.

Farokh: Do you think the United States should establish a legal framework for the crypto industry so that companies can thrive here?

Trump:Yes, I think it is very necessary. The crypto industry needs a clear legal framework to safeguard its development. Of course, there must be some necessary regulatory measures. I have communicated with many heads of crypto companies, and they also expressed their hope for reasonable supervision. At present, the SEC's suppression of the crypto industry is incomprehensible. Since I became interested in cryptocurrency and participated in it, I found that the SEC's attitude has changed slightly. They seem to see the potential of the crypto industry, or it may be because they feel that my participation has political influence.

But if we don’t win the election, the SEC may return to its hostile attitude and crack down on the crypto industry again. So we must continue to advance in future technologies, including cryptocurrencies and AI, to ensure that the United States remains a global leader.

Farokh: Can you talk about your success in the NFT field? Did it surprise you?

Trump: When I entered the NFT market, its craze had passed and many people thought that the NFT market had cooled. But we launched 45,000 NFTs, and we thought it might take months or even a year to sell out, but they sold out almost all of them on the same day. Then we launched the second, third, and fourth batches, and each time it was a huge success. I even asked some early buyers whether the subsequent issuance would dilute the value of their NFTs, but most of them expressed support and hoped that we would continue to launch new series, which surprised me.

This experience made me realize the huge potential of cryptocurrency in payments. The vast majority of buyers paid with cryptocurrency rather than traditional dollar checks, which gave me a deeper understanding of crypto payments. This is also the opportunity for me to really start to be interested in cryptocurrency. Although I didn't pay much attention to it at the beginning, through the success of NFT, I saw the practical application and potential of cryptocurrency.

Farokh: Has NFT changed your view on digital assets?

Trump: Yes, the success of NFT has given me a whole new understanding of cryptocurrency. If I just use US dollars to pay, I may not react much, but seeing that almost all transactions are completed in cryptocurrency is really eye-opening for me. At the same time, my children are passionate about cryptocurrency, and their deep understanding of this industry has also influenced me. I realized that this is not just a game for young people. Many of my friends around me are also strong supporters of cryptocurrency, which further strengthened my interest and confidence in this industry.

Well-known real estate developer Steve Witkoff talks about the origin and potential of the WLFI collaboration

Farokh: How did this collaboration start? I know there is a great story behind it, can you take us through it?

Steve Witkoff:My son introduced me to two partners, Chase Hero and Zach Folkman, who are very smart. These young people dressed a little differently from us, probably with more tattoos. Through Chase and Zach, I met traders from all over the world. These people were as smart as any currency traders I met, and they began to tell me about the concept of decentralized finance, or "frictionless finance," and explained why this approach is beneficial to the public, especially those who are ignored in the traditional financial system. The driving force of the US economy is credit, and many people do not have access to credit resources.

Once I understood this, I thought there was no one who understood this better than the Trump family. So we first met with Eric Trump Jr. and President Trump and his advisory team, and we decided to move forward with this together. We spent almost 9 months doing very in-depth due diligence and hired a team of excellent lawyers to help us operate legally in this area. Now, we are standing at this important node today, which is the result of many years of hard work.

Farokh: Do you think this can really change the way wealth is created in the United States?

Farokh: I believe that decentralized finance is the future. If you think about the fact that in order to borrow money today, you almost need to be "ennobled" and become a member of the privileged class. I remember when I left the legal profession, I represented the president, but even so, it was very difficult to enter the business world and obtain credit resources. Credit is at the core of the development of our economy, and cryptocurrency makes this possible. Decentralized finance as an application of cryptocurrency also makes it easier to obtain credit.

We see a huge market opportunity, especially for those who are excluded from the traditional banking system. They can't find banks to serve them, listen to them and support them. We see this as a business opportunity, but also as a way to democratize credit. We can make this process more equal and potentially make a good financial return in this area because there are a large number of people who cannot get credit in the existing system. It's unfortunate that young people have great ideas but can't turn those ideas into reality, which is contrary to the American dream.

Chase Herro, Head of Digital and Strategy, talks about the vision and future impact of WIFI

Farokh: I want to ask what the overall vision of the project is?

Chase Herro:It's a very ambitious goal. The first thing I care about is liquidity. We have somewhat confused the concept of Bitcoin, Ethereum and other tokens, while they are all great assets, but I think the game is actually very simple. People understand dollars, understand accounts, and understand the simplicity of them.

So I started looking into stablecoins in earnest and really liked the idea behind it. To me, stablecoins are the easiest way to get new people who are not familiar with speculation into this space. Just like a gym membership, once you go from free to paid, you will be more engaged. So, by getting people into this space with $5, I hope to push them to get more exposure to this environment. And in the process, the real magic will happen. If you are not familiar with stablecoins, they are a very amazing asset, and the backing of them is the purchase of US Treasuries. I think this is a great way to keep the United States as the global financial foundation for the next hundred years.

As we can see in history, a strong America means a strong world. Today, the status of the global financial infrastructure is challenged, and the uncertainty of the future makes us value the current dollar more. Now, the largest cryptocurrency trading medium is still the stablecoin anchored by the US dollar. My goal is to provide people with financial freedom while ensuring the sovereignty of the US economy and giving individuals control over their assets. Think about it, when have you ever heard of ordinary people being able to buy treasury bonds or bonds?

Farokh: How do you think this project will reshape the financial landscape in the coming years?

Chase Herro: The key is "accessibility". The goal of any large project is to make it easy for users to use and enjoy it. I think this is what we need to work towards, and this is why I like the Trump family, they pursue comfort and ease of use from beginning to end. They are impeccable in this regard.

Our goal is to keep working to make sure we can create a system that makes it easy for ordinary Americans and global users to enter this space and gain access to opportunities that would otherwise be out of their reach. In this regard, the technology is very advanced, but also very complex. In the early stages, we often worked with my mother, grandmother, and sisters to try to enter this space, and we even offered them a reward of $10,000 to successfully sign up for a MetaMask account. If they needed help along the way, the reward would be reduced. You will soon find that many people will have difficulties in the early stages.

That is the key to the future: getting ordinary Americans to enter and use this space and experience the freedom it brings. This is one of the coolest things - your bank is with you, and your money is in your pocket no matter where you are. This experience of being able to control your finances anytime, anywhere is revolutionary.

At the same time, this will also be the most difficult intersection to achieve, so it needs to be the simplest way to attract the widest range of users. I have never seen anyone in my life who can make complex issues so simple as the Trump family. I really believe that the combination of these two factors will give the American people an opportunity for sovereign freedom.

This will completely change the status quo because the average person has never had the opportunity to earn a yield on $1. If you put your dollar into a stablecoin and put it on the chain, you will make money immediately, and it is backed by the national debt. So we have to ask ourselves, why should this opportunity be excluded from the masses? Sometimes I feel that some people are doing this on purpose and they want to prevent this from happening. There are a lot of very powerful people who may not want this to happen because it will reduce their power and resource efficiency. In the 2008 financial crisis, some people still bought luxury homes, while many people lost their retirement savings.

Farokh: What do you hope to accomplish with this project?

Chase Herro: Zac is always more pragmatic and I am always more ambitious. My goal is to unchain our debt and restructure America's debt in a way that is good for both crypto and America. Whoever holds the debt holds the power. So as interest rates start to fall, money will leave where it was originally invested, and we want to create a product that will attract that money in a reasonable way. My goal is to prioritize America's interests, and we will build a product to achieve that goal.

Also, our overall goal is to illuminate the future of the entire crypto community. There is a lot of tribalism in the crypto space, and everyone has their own opinions on Layer 2 solutions or which token is the best. Our goal is to showcase everything that crypto and DeFi have to offer, whether it's a decentralized media platform like Rug Radio or a decentralized lending platform like Aave, we want to introduce these tools and innovations to the general public.

Operations Director Zak Folkman: Simplifying DeFi’s Future Goals and Usability Challenges

Farokh: How is World Liberty Financial addressing the usability challenge? Who do you plan to bring into the DeFi ecosystem through this platform?

Zak Folkman:First of all, usability of DeFi is indeed a big challenge. Many DeFi protocols, such as some of our favorite platforms, although they are very powerful, are difficult for ordinary users to understand and use.

I have a lot of friends who are technically savvy and have dabbled in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, but most of them keep their assets in exchange accounts such as Coinbase and have not taken advantage of the potential of DeFi at all. They don’t even know that there are other things to do besides speculating on assets. Stablecoins are the best tool to help these users get out of pure speculation. As Chase mentioned, they provide stable returns and are pegged to the US dollar, eliminating most of the volatility.

For us, the opportunity is to show these users who own assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum that they can not only hold these assets, but also participate in the DeFi ecosystem through a simple, easy-to-use product.

I know there are over 70,000 people still following this project, and they are our true DeFi and crypto community members. For these users, entering a DeFi platform often feels complicated. You open the app, there may not be clear guidance, or you may not know how to choose from a variety of markets and staking opportunities, and you may end up giving up.

For example, Eric was with us to discuss how to recycle Ethereum on the Aave platform, and he gave up after trying for a while because the process was too complicated and frustrating even though he was very technical. This is the problem - DeFi lacks usability, and if we want to achieve large-scale mainstream adoption and liquidity influx into the market, we must develop easy-to-use products that are seamless for ordinary users.

Farokh: How does World Liberty Financial plan to achieve these goals?

Zak Folkman:Our goal is not to rebuild the flywheel,but to bring the best parts of DeFi to ordinary users who are not yet involved in DeFi platforms. We want to build simple, intuitive, and easy-to-use products that don't require asking friends for instructions.

With this simple product, we hope to get more people into DeFi and help them earn returns through stablecoins instead of taking the high risk of speculating on the next meme coin.

In addition, we also plan to help users unlock liquidity in their existing assets, such as Ethereum or other crypto assets. This is how we achieve our goal: to make it easy for ordinary users to enter the DeFi world through a stable income mechanism and simple product design.

WLFI Advisor Corey Caplan: Security Architecture Outlook

Farokh: Given the high profile and expectations of this project, how to ensure its robustness and reliability in terms of security and architecture? It is very important for the crypto community to understand how to ensure the security of this platform.

Corey Caplan: Security is an ongoing process, not a one-time thing. I see security as a journey. We thought some systems were secure in the early days of cryptocurrency and open finance, but over time, things have changed. Therefore, we must remain flexible, constantly learn, and adapt to emerging security methods, and never stick to existing security models. Our team must always keep an open mind and accept new technologies and methods to ensure the security and robustness of the project.

World Liberty Financial: Tokens and Crypto Community Feedback

Farokh: What are the plans for World Liberty Financial’s token?

Zak Folkman:This question is probably one of the most anticipated, there has been a lot of discussion about tokens. I have seen some wild predictions and a lot of people are speculating. Now I will officially answer this question: Yes, we will have a token. To answer this question, I have prepared a statement to give you a little background and make sure everyone is clear about what this token means.

At World Liberty Financial, we believe that the future direction of the platform and the entire decentralized finance (DeFi) space requires broad participation. We believe that governance tokens are the best way to achieve this goal. Therefore, we plan to issue and distribute a governance token called WLFI in the future. The WLFI token is limited to governance purposes only, it only gives holders the right to propose and vote on matters related to the platform. WLFI tokens will not be transferable and will not provide any economic rights such as dividends or distributions. We only want people who truly participate in the direction of World Liberty Financial's governance to purchase this token, not those who are simply speculating for profit.

Please keep in mind that while we are sharing these plans now, this does not constitute any offer to sell tokens. Any sale will be formally announced in the future through our official channels.

Farokh: Who can buy the tokens?

Zak Folkman: That's a good question. Although we do not believe that WLFI tokens are securities, due to the current regulatory uncertainty in the United States regarding tokens and token sales, we have decided to proceed with caution and limit token sales to accredited investors that meet the exemptions required by the U.S. federal securities laws.

This means that U.S. persons can only participate if they have been reasonably verified as accredited investors (in accordance with Regulation D). Non-U.S. potential token sales will also be limited to non-U.S. persons and subject to applicable regulations.

Farokh: How are tokens distributed?

Zak Folkman: As I mentioned before, there are many scams in the crypto world and people must be careful of projects claiming to be related to World Liberty Financial. If the information does not come from our official channels (Twitter, Telegram or official website), it is fake.

There are many false reports about how the tokens will be distributed. Here’s how it will work: Like any other DeFi project, we will have a very fair token distribution. About 63% of the tokens will be sold to the public, there will be no pre-sale or early discounts for VCs to buy, and the first sale will be directly to the public. 17% of the tokens will be used for user rewards and 20% for team compensation (including advisors and future employees). To ensure broad participation, we will cap voting rights at 5%, so even if someone holds a large number of tokens, their voting rights will not exceed 5%.

Farokh: What is the feedback from the crypto community on this project?

Zak Folkman: As with any project, some people will support you, some will be jealous of you, and some will disagree with your ideas, and that’s normal. The most incredible thing for me is to see the support from the leaders of our community, the real pioneers in the crypto field. We have announced many advisors such as Corey Caplan, Sandy Pang, Luke, Raphael, etc.

We also have many big names who quietly support the project and keep a low profile because they have their own investors to balance. If I could tell you the identities of these people, you would be shocked. These people have great confidence in the potential of the crypto community and World Liberty Financial.

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