Trump’s DeFi Platform Loads up on Crypto Assets – But It’s No ‘Strategic Reserve’

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On this fine January 21st, as the winds of destiny blow ever so dramatically across the land, Donald Trump Jr., yes, the very same, announced with the solemnity of a 100-pound gold bar dropping in a silent cathedral: the purchases that would forever change the course of history—or not. These strategic purchases were made “to commemorate the inauguration of Donald J. Trump as the 47th President of the United States.” The pomp, the circumstance, the grandiose purpose—pure spectacle. 🤩

The family’s World Liberty Finance DeFi platform—because why wouldn’t they have their own platform—has made several “strategic purchases,” including a modest sum of $47 million worth of wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC) and $47 million worth of Ethereum. Oh, and let’s not forget about the $4.7 million batches of Aave (AAVE), Chainlink (LINK), Tron (TRX), and Ethena (ENA). Truly, this will go down in the annals of history as the *finest* use of $47 million since, well, ever. 💸

To commemorate the inauguration of Donald J. Trump as the 47th President of the United States, $WLFI is proud to announce the following strategic purchases today:

$47,000,000 ETH
$47,000,000 wBTC
$4,700,000 Aave
$4,700,000 LINK
$4,700,000 TRX
$4,700,000 ENA

Excited for the…

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) January 21, 2025

Waiting on Strategic Reserve

However, not everyone is as excited as one might expect. Bloomberg’s ETF analyst James Seyffart, who clearly doesn’t share in the joy of wrapped tokens, noted that this is “Not quite the Strategic Reserve everyone is looking for.” Oh, James. If only you could feel the magic in the air. Meanwhile, investor Zack Voell, perhaps with a sense of humor, quipped that this is simply “the strategic wrapped Bitcoin reserve.” 🤣

Bitcoin Magazine CEO David Bailey—because, of course, we need an expert in Bitcoin names to add their two cents—commented, “Trump’s crypto team has started rotating their treasury into Bitcoin in $4.7m slugs!” What an image! Slug-sized Bitcoin. Talk about making moves. 🐌💰

And yet, there are still complaints. Tether strategy advisor Gabor Gurbacs, in a moment of lost opportunity, lamented the lack of crypto acknowledgement in Trump’s speech:

“Donald Senior could have just mentioned Bitcoin once in his speech. Bitcoiners have done a lot to get him elected and make it all possible.”

Of course, President Trump has already begun signing executive orders faster than a caffeine-addicted squirrel, but that one executive order the whole crypto world is awaiting—the Bitcoin strategic reserve—remains untouched. Not today, friends. Not today.

World Liberty Finance, the platform that is practically drowning in Ethereum lately, holds almost 57,000 ETH worth around $184 million. That’s more than half of its holdings. Because, you know, why go small when you can go big with Ethereum?

The platform recently sold out of WLFI tokens—because who doesn’t want a piece of the action?—but they’re back with more, offering an additional 5% of the supply, or a staggering 5 billion tokens, priced at a cheeky $0.05. That’s up from the original price of $0.015. Can someone say “token inflation”? 😜

As of the last update, they had sold 22 billion out of the 25 billion total illiquid tokens. Nothing says “secure investment” like the word *illiquid*, right?

Crypto Markets Take a Breather

Meanwhile, the total market capitalization has been cooling down like a cup of coffee left out overnight, dropping to $3.64 trillion after the inauguration hype settled. It’s almost poetic, really.

Bitcoin reached an all-time high of $109,400 on Monday before retreating to $102,000 by Tuesday morning. Classic Bitcoin, always keeping us on our toes. 🤸‍♂️

Ethereum managed to peak at $3,430 before slipping back down. No surprise there. ETH, ever the drama queen, was trading at about $3,250 at the time of writing. Who’s keeping track anymore?

As for the altcoins, it was a mixed bag, and Trump’s newly launched meme coin, TRUMP, well, that coin was having a hard day. It lost a staggering 30% in one fell swoop, dropping to $32. Ouch. Critics of the crypto world must be having the time of their lives. 🥴

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2025-01-21 09:47