WLFI token debut linked to Trump family draws scrutiny and volatility

World Liberty Financial's WLFI token, a decentralized finance project linked to President Donald Trump and members of his family, began trading publicly on Monday, drawing heavy volume, volatile price swings, and fresh scrutiny over concentrated ownership and regulatory risk. The token opened on multiple centralized and decentralized platforms after holders voted in July to lift an earlier restriction that had made WLFI nontransferable.

Trading activity surged within hours of the debut. Platform data showed large futures positions were opened and aggressively shorted in premarket trading, driving an implied valuation that multiple market trackers placed anywhere from roughly 24 billion to more than 40 billion in fully diluted value within the first day. Spot prices ranged around 25 to 31 cents in the opening session, with differing market indexes reporting market capitalizations between roughly 6.5 billion and 7.6 billion. Derivatives volume and open interest also climbed sharply, and one onchain analytics measure recorded millions of dollars in liquidations among leveraged long and short positions during the initial hours.

The rollout marked a formal shift from a private-sale...