President Donald Trump’s family-backed crypto project, World Liberty Financial (WLFI) has passed a governance proposal requiring token holders to lock up their tokens for nearly six months in order to participate in protocol voting. Summary WLFI holders approved a governance proposal requiring token holders to stake their tokens for 180 days in order to participate in protocol voting. Participants who stake WLFI and vote at least twice during the lock period can earn roughly 2% annual yield. The proposal received overwhelming support and was approved with 99.12% of 1,800 votes cast in favor, although more than 76% of the voting power came from just ten users. WLFI introduced the proposal last month, outlining a governance staking system that would require holders of unlocked WLFI tokens to stake their assets before they can participate in votes that determine the direction of the protocol and its broader ecosystem. According to the firm, the change would ensure that only participants with “long-term alignment to the protocol” are able to influence governance decisions. The proposal “rewards WLFI holders who have demonstrated the most commitment to WLFI governance and the WLFI ecosystem with additional opportunity to engage in the future of the WLFI ecosystem and potential commercial arrangements,” the document states. Another goal of the initiative is to promote the adoption of WLFI’s USD1 stablecoin by redirecting value that previously flowed to market makers toward ecosystem participants. To incentivize participation, the proposal introduces a base reward of roughly 2% annual yield for token holders who stake their WLFI and take part in at least two governance votes during the lock-up period. Meanwhile, holders whose tokens are already locked remain eligible to vote without additional staking requirements. Further, the proposal documents outline a “Super Node” tier requiring participants to stake 50 million WLFI tokens, worth about $5 million, which would grant them “guaranteed direct access” to the WLFI team for collaboration and partnership discussions. In a recent statement to Reuters, WLFI spokesman David Wachsman confirmed that the access would be limited to the project’s business development team and executives rather than direct engagement with specific founders. Trump’s sons Eric and Barron are listed in project materials as part of the team supporting the platform. WLFI seeks banking charter, but faces hiccups As part of its longer-term plans centered around the USD1 stablecoin, the platform is also seeking a national trust bank charter from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The effort has drawn scrutiny from Washington lawmakers, with some arguing that the application should not move forward unless potential conflicts of interest tied to the project are addressed. Concerns center on the project’s links to President Donald Trump and members of his family who are financially involved in the venture.
