WLFI Early Buyers Get Phased Unlock Proposal — Tokens May Finally See Daylight After 18 Months of Darkness

World Liberty Financial is finally giving its frustrated early buyers something to potentially celebrate. The Trump family-linked DeFi platform said Friday it plans to roll out a governance proposal next week that would establish a phased unlock schedule for WLFI tokens held by early retail purchasers — rather than a full, immediate release. Because nothing says "trust us, we're decentralized" like making investors wait longer than a bear market to touch their own coins.

The proposal will open for community input before moving to a formal vote. Notably, the vote won't cover a complete immediate unlock. Instead, it's structured as a long-term vesting plan designed to release tokens in stages. Imagine being handed a restaurant menu but only getting the appetizers — and those appetizers have a 24-month expiration date.

Currently, WLFI tokens remain largely locked for early buyers, with transferability tied to governance-approved unlocks. Tokenomist data shows approximately 24.67% of WLFI's 100 billion token supply has been released, while around 75.33% remains locked or pending future unlock decisions. That's roughly three-quarters of the supply sitting in digital timeout, waiting for permission to exist in the wild.

The timing matters. WLFI's early sale materials stated tokens were non-transferable and could remain locked indefinitely, with any future unlock subject to a governance vote no earlier than 12 months after the token sale. That threshold has come and gone — WLFI's public sale began around mid-October 2024, making the current proposal roughly 18 months after the initial sale. That's longer than most altcoin lifecycles. Some degens bought in, rode the entire cycle down, and are still staring at locked wallets like they're checking a prison visitation schedule.

The project raised at least $550 million from WLFI token sales across two funding rounds. Some self-identified presale buyers have been vocal about most of their holdings remaining locked, even as parts of the broader token supply have become transferable. At least one buyer claims to have filed legal notices pursuing claims in both the United States and the Netherlands against World Liberty Financial and its backers. Cointelegraph couldn't independently verify any lawsuit had been filed. Nothing quite like threatening to sue in two jurisdictions simultaneously to express your feelings about tokenomics.

This isn't the first governance tweak to WLFI's transferability. On March 16, WLFI token holders approved a proposal introducing a six-month lock-up rule for certain transfers — one of the first formal changes to the project's transferability framework. The project's terms of service apparently read like a mattress firm return policy: "you can't actually have your money back, but here's a timeline that sounds reassuring."

Adding to holder concerns, one community member pointed out on X that the project's borrowing activity raised red flags regarding how treasury funds were being used. Onchain data shows World Liberty Financial's treasury borrowed roughly $75 million in stablecoins from Dolomite using WLFI as collateral. Nothing screams "we have plenty of runway" quite like using your own token as a ATM card to borrow against future hopes and dreams.

Cointelegraph reached out to World Liberty Financial for comment but hadn't received a response by publication. The silence is, ironically, very on-brand for a project that's been keeping its community in the dark for a year and a half.