Trump-Linked DeFi Project Partners with Chainlink Amid Challenges

By: Isha Das

The World Liberty Financial (WLFI) project, a DeFi initiative with backing from former U.S. President Donald Trump, is forging ahead despite facing notable hurdles. Recently, the project announced a strategic partnership with Chainlink, a leading provider of decentralized oracles, in a move aimed at embracing reliable on-chain data and cross-chain interoperability. This collaboration, unveiled on November 14, highlights WLFI's commitment to becoming a significant participant in the DeFi space.

The partnership between WLFI and Chainlink will significantly impact the project's integration with the Ethereum mainnet, employing Chainlink's Price Feeds to support the secure onboarding of devices like USDC, USDT, ETH, and WBTC. This move is intended to boost investor confidence and create a streamlined data conduit for its Aave v3 protocol instance. This strategic alignment underscores the ambition to create a DeFi hub where users can engage with various financial services, including lending, borrowing, and investments in digital assets.

Amidst these progressive steps, WLFI has experienced financial challenges, experiencing lower-than-expected investor interest. Initially targeting a $300 million capital raise, the project scaled back its expectations to a $30 million goal, yet has only raised under $20 million from 1.3 billion tokens sold. Criticism from several corners, particularly from entities like Galaxy Digital, suggests that the project has, up until now, remained more conceptual than operational, highlighting uncertainties about its future and detailed development plans.

The WLFI token remains central to the initiative's vision, aiming to empower stakeholders with governance rights essential to navigating the project's trajectory. Despite a focus on innovation and broadening DeFi adoption based on US dollar stability, skepticism persists. Key dependencies, such as Aave licensing, remain unconfirmed, contributing to doubts about WLFI's potential, especially given the project's political affiliations. As WLFI progresses with Chainlink, the Defi community watches closely to see if this alliance fosters a turning point.