World Liberty Financial’s token (WLFI) saw a sharp turnaround this week when the project leadership moved to restrict access to the holdings of its advisor, Justin Sun. The action affected almost three billion tokens—valued at over half a billion dollars—and pushed WLFI up by 8%, adding around $400 million to its market worth.
Sun’s Tokens Made Inactive
Project records show that Sun’s address was disabled from transferring tokens. This step included:
- Around 540M unlocked tokens (~$101M)
- Another 2.4B staked tokens (~$452M)
In total, nearly 2.94B WLFI are now frozen. By removing this chunk of supply from circulation, selling pressure eased, helping the price recover above $0.18.
Volatile Debut Leaves Retail at a Loss
WLFI’s market entry on September 1 was anything but smooth. Starting at $0.46, the token tumbled to $0.25 within hours as insiders unloaded heavy volumes on exchanges like Binance and OKX.
Presale participants, who bought in as low as $0.015, exited with huge profits—sometimes over 20x. But latecomers paid the price, with many nursing immediate losses.
Criticism quickly followed: over half the supply sat with insiders, and groups linked to the Trump family controlled 22.5B tokens plus claims to most of the revenue. Observers said this looked more centralized than its branding suggested.
Sun’s Influence Questioned
Sun, who invested $75M earlier in the year, had accumulated holdings approaching $900M in WLFI. Blockchain data indicated wallet movements between his accounts and HTX exchange, fueling speculation of market manipulation.
He dismissed the claims, stating the transfers were only small technical checks. Even so, the restriction of his wallet was viewed as a significant escalation.
Token Burn, Heavy Whale Losses
To stabilize conditions, WLFI eliminated 47M tokens (~0.19% of supply) by sending them to a burn address. A larger buyback-and-burn plan is also on the table, pending community approval.
Price action, however, remains weak:
- Fell from $0.33 to $0.23 within days.
- Now trading close to $0.18, down over 40% from launch.
- Market cap slipped under $7B after briefly touching a $40B valuation.
Big investors weren’t spared. One whale wallet lost $1.6M after a leveraged reentry, while another faced losses above $2.2M. Some traders gained by shorting WLFI during the drop.
What Comes Next
The restriction on Sun’s tokens gave WLFI a short-term lift, but the project still faces skepticism. Analysts argue that its future depends less on political branding and more on whether the team can build genuine blockchain use cases that win back investor trust.
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