TLDR
- WLFI derivatives volume spiked 500% to $4.6B ahead of Monday’s token unlock.
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Binance will list WLFI on Sept 1 with USDT and USDC pairs under its Seed Tag.
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20% of early investor WLFI tokens unlock at 8 a.m. ET, or 5% of total supply.
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World Liberty also launched its USD1 stablecoin with listings on Solana and Upbit.
World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a Trump-linked crypto project, is preparing for its first token unlock on Monday as derivatives activity climbs sharply. More than $4.6 billion in WLFI derivatives traded within 24 hours, marking a fivefold increase as investors positioned ahead of the event.
World Liberty Financial Trading surge ahead of unlock
According to Coinglass data, WLFI derivatives volume surged 535% to $4.54 billion on Sunday. Open interest also rose 45% to $887 million, reflecting strong demand for exposure ahead of the unlock. Binance handled nearly half of the activity, with $2.22 billion in trades and more than 10.5 million contracts exchanged.
Other exchanges also saw active trading. OKX reported $917 million in volume, while Bitget followed with $428 million. The derivatives market priced WLFI around $0.32 to $0.34 through the weekend, down from a peak of $0.40 last week.
First tranche of WLFI tokens unlock
At 8 a.m. ET on September 1, WLFI will unlock 20% of the tokens purchased in its early funding rounds. This tranche accounts for about 5% of the 100 billion total token supply.
Early backers purchased tokens in rounds priced at $0.015 and $0.05, giving some investors paper gains of up to 20 times at current levels.
The project raised $550 million through token sales. The first sale placed 20 billion tokens at $0.015 each, raising $300 million, while a later $0.05 round raised $250 million. The unlocked allocations will be distributed through a “Lockbox” process, with the remainder vesting over time to reduce market shocks.
Binance and global exchange listings
Binance confirmed that WLFI will list on its spot platform on September 1 at 13:00 UTC.
The exchange will open WLFI trading pairs with USDT and USDC, while withdrawals are scheduled to begin the following day. WLFI was tagged with Binance’s Seed Label, which signals innovative but high-risk projects.
Other major exchanges are also expected to support WLFI trading. Announcements indicate that Kraken and OKX will provide listings, while Coinbase is preparing to add WLFI’s USD1 stablecoin in the U.S. These listings expand access for both retail and institutional traders.
USD1 stablecoin launches on Solana
Alongside WLFI, World Liberty Financial officially launched its USD1 stablecoin on the Solana blockchain. The project minted 100 million USD1 tokens at launch and integrated with DeFi platforms including Raydium and Kamino Finance.
Bonk.fun also announced it would serve as the launchpad for onboarding users into the stablecoin ecosystem.
South Korean exchanges Upbit and Bithumb listed USD1 trading pairs with KRW, BTC, and USDT. The company also confirmed that further integrations are planned across both centralized and decentralized platforms.
Outlook on valuation and adoption
If WLFI maintains its pre-market price near $0.34, its fully diluted value would exceed $34 billion. This would place it among the ten largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, alongside Dogecoin and Tron.
The Trump family’s holding company, DT Marks DEFI LLC, owns 22.5 billion WLFI tokens, equal to 22.5% of supply. These holdings remain locked, along with other team and adviser allocations.
As WLFI unlocks tokens and expands listings, its ability to maintain liquidity and manage volatility will be closely watched by traders and regulators alike.
