WLFI investors nod 6-month token lock-up rule in governance tweak

World Liberty Financial (WLFI) holders who want a chance to steer the protocol’s future will now need to lock up their tokens for nearly six months under a newly passed proposal. 

The proposal from the Trump family-backed crypto venture closed on Friday with 99.12% of 1,800 votes cast in favor, according to the snapshot governance vote. Over 76% of the tokens came from ten users. 

WLFI said the proposal was to ensure only those with “long-term alignment to the protocol” can make decisions on the protocol.

It also entices stakers with a 2% annual percentage yield on their staked tokens if they participate in at least two governance votes during the lock-up period. Users with already-locked tokens are unaffected and can continue voting as usual.

Low voter turnout has been a recurring issue across decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), with some estimates suggesting average participation rates between 15% and 25%.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin suggested in February that AI personal assistants could help DAO members vote and increase participation, while Stani Kulechov, the founder of decentralized lending platform Aave has suggested scaling back token holders' votes in favor of more input from leadership. The latest WLFI proposal offers a different approach to the issue.

Super nodes gain “direct access” to WLFI team

One part of the proposal also suggests that those staking 50 WLFI million tokens, worth about $5 million, could get “guaranteed direct access” to the WLFI team for collaboration opportunities. 

The WLFI “Gold Paper” lists US President Donald Trump’s sons, Eric and Baron, as co-founders and part of the team “supporting the WLF commitment.” Steven Witkoff’s sons, Zach and Alex, are also named as co-founders.

However, WLFI spokesman David Wachsman reportedly told Reuters on Sunday that the preferential access is to the business development team and executives, not to specific founders, and in a separate statement, said that it also does not guarantee partnership. 

WLFI seeks bank charter and to support US dollar 

WLFI investors could see an eventful few years ahead.

WLFI is seeking to build a crypto-enabled financial ecosystem centered around its stablecoin, USD1, while also supporting other Defi applications and stablecoins that “seek to preserve the US Dollar’s status”, according to its “Gold Paper.”

In January, the project applied to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for a national trust bank charter to expand the use of USD1, but is still waiting for a decision. It has also launched rewards programs and partnerships with institutional platforms and other protocols to increase USD1 adoption.

CEO Zach Witkoff has teased tokenization efforts around assets such as real estate and oil and gas, while the project is also exploring the creation of a publicly traded company to hold its WLFI tokens. 

The WLFI Gold Paper promises holders the “right to vote on certain WLF Protocol matters.” 

So far, WLFI has completed six snapshot votes. Past proposals included using unlocked WLFI tokens to help grow the project's stablecoin, USD1, and to make the governance token tradable.