World Liberty Financial (WLFI) finished 2025 down more than 40% after steep early volatility, reported investor losses, and governance actions that did not arrest negative momentum. The drawdown coincided with reports of shrinking assets, wallet freezes, and regulatory inquiries that compounded uncertainty around the token’s operating perimeter.
Volatility, interventions, and the trust gap
WLFI launched on September 1, 2025 and reached an all-time high near $0.46 before reversing sharply, according to the text’s market reporting references. Pre-market pricing was described as pushing toward roughly $0.40 and touching $0.478, but the token then fell more than 13% on debut and dropped roughly 40% within three days, leaving it down over 40% by year-end. Governance-led stabilization attempts followed: a one-off burn of 47 million WLFI tokens valued at over $11 million, and a vote directing 100% of protocol liquidity fees to buyback-and-burn activity; the text states these steps did not stop the decline.
I promised to Make America Great Again, this time with crypto. @WorldLibertyFi is planning to help make America the crypto capital of the world! The whitelist for eligible persons is officially open – this is your chance to be part of this historic moment. Join:…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2024
WLFI’s reported on-chain and treasury composition included WBTC, ETH, MOVE, the project’s stablecoin USD1, Aave-linked assets, and MNT. The portfolio’s value was described as contracting materially through 2025, increasing balance-sheet pressure and weakening investor confidence. This dynamic matters because declining treasury value can undermine market expectations around liquidity backstops and the perceived credibility of protocol-led support mechanisms.
Losses were described as concentrated among large holders and visible public participants. Reporting cited examples of individual losses in the millions, including one loss of $1.64 million and influencer losses near $700,000, while insider concentration was described as remaining substantial. The text also states that the Trump family’s contractual allocation of 15.75 billion WLFI tokens was still valued around $3.4 billion, with combined holdings estimated near $5 billion, representing just under 25% of total supply.
A governance flashpoint involved user wallet freezes. The project reportedly froze 272 user wallets and framed the action as a response to alleged phishing, but coverage described resulting accusations of market manipulation and governance weakness. Alongside questions about transfer restrictions and insider concentration, the text says this episode contributed to regulatory attention, including reported SEC inquiries into potential conflicts and compliance issues.
Sentiment remained fragmented, reflected in widely dispersed forecasts. Bullish scenarios cited ranged up to $1.01 or a short-term move toward $0.41, while bearish scenarios extended as low as $0.009 and a Binance user prediction placed end-2025 at $0.13561. The dispersion is consistent with high perceived risk and an unstable narrative anchor.
WLFI’s 2025 performance underscores the limits of token-engineering remedies when liquidity confidence and governance legitimacy are questioned. The next practical proof points are execution transparency around the buyback-and-burn program and any formal outcomes tied to the reported regulatory inquiries.
