(This article is reprinted from Odaily's Odaily,"Deep Dive into the WLFI Team: Two Honorary Co-founders, Seven Co-founders, and Six Key Members")
On September 1, the WLFI Token Generation Event (TGE) officially ended, becoming another industry-wide phenomenon of wealth creation since Trump at the beginning of the year.
However, repeated missteps in official disclosures, particularly regarding the initial token circulation, have led to the perception of the WLFI team's professionalism as a "cut-throat operation." Therefore, Odaily has compiled and summarized the WLFI core team members and their social media accounts, combining existing information from the X platform, for readers' verification and reference. Note: The following information is compiled from publicly available sources; the official WLFI announcement and information should be considered final.
WLFI Team's 7 Major Joint Creations: The Trump and Witkoff Family's Interest Network
According to the WLFI project's official website, the primary "faces" of the WLFI team are members of the Trump and Witkoff families. Three experts have been hired for the CTO, Head of Growth, and Chief Compliance Officer, respectively. Donald Trump and Steven Witkoff (U.S. Ambassador and Middle East Envoy) serve as honorary co-founders of the project, respectively. The following individuals will be primarily responsible for driving and promoting the project.
Donald Trump Jr: Co-founder of WLFI, Trump's eldest son
Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump are currently the primary leaders of the Trump family's crypto-related businesses. Yesterday, when the WLFI token launched, they publicly stated : "Big day - @WorldLibertyFi just launched the WLFI token. This is not a meme coin, it is the pillar of true ecosystem governance, changing the way money flows. Freedom + Finance + America First."
It can be seen that what Trump Jr. wants to emphasize is that WLFI is not a Trump family project, but a "serious American project", and it is not a meme coin for short-term speculation, but rather emphasizes the long-term development value of the project and its role in promoting financial freedom.
Eric Trump: Co-founder of WLFI, Trump's second son, and American Bitcoin
As the face of the Trump Organization and the WLFI project, Eric Trump can be considered the backbone of the Trump family's crypto plans. His consistent activity and frequent calls for BTC and ETH have garnered considerable attention in the crypto market. Last month, he attended the Bitcoin Asia conference, where his keynote speech and roundtable discussion were packed, even leading to a scene of "walls have ears." (For more details, see "Where Did Everyone Go at This Year's Bitcoin Asia?" )
When the WLFI token was launched, it also published an article stating : "We (the token) is now officially online! Our team has always believed in the power and leadership of the United States. With the launch of @WorldLibertyFi 's $WLFI token today, we are setting a new standard for financial freedom; built on trust, speed, and American values. This is an important moment for the future of currency!"
Barron Trump: Co-founder of WLFI (in name), Trump's youngest son
Since Barron has little involvement in WLFI's business operations and only "forwards support" during external publicity, it currently seems more like he is a "nominal" co-founder, so I will not introduce him in detail here.
Zach Witkoff: Co-founder and CEO of WLFI; Chairman of the Board of Alt 5 Sigma (stock symbol: ALTS); son of Steven Witkoff
As the absolute core of the WLFI project, Zach, acting as the "project boss," expressed gratitude to key team members upon the launch of the WLFI token. After all, the subsequent "shipment" of WLFI tokens will require the cooperation of Alt 5 Sigma, a US-listed company. His responsibility is crucial to ensuring the WLFI project continues to generate impressive profits for the team members.
Alex Witkoff: Co-founder of WLFI, CEO of real estate giant Witkoff Group, and son of Steven Witkoff
As Steven Witkoff's son, Alex is responsible for the operations of the Witkoff Group. Regarding the WLFI project, he is more like a "little brother," following the lead of many of the big brothers. When the WLFI token was launched, an announcement was also made , but it seemed more like a "routine" matter.
It is worth noting that, like his father Steven Witkoff, who has received support from US President Trump and US Vice President JD Vance, Alex was also appointed by President Trump as a member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council in May this year, serving as a pioneer in resisting "anti-Semitism."
By the way, like the Trump Group, which has been engaged in the real estate industry for many years, the Witkoff Group is also one of the giants in the US real estate industry.
Chase Herro: Co-founder of WLFI, member of Dough Finance
Sources indicate that Chase Herro is a crypto veteran. He previously described himself as "an internet jerk" in a now-deleted YouTube video and has long been involved in cryptocurrency entrepreneurship. He was previously charged with marijuana possession and spent several weeks in a Wisconsin prison. He first met Zach Witkoff in the summer of 2023 at Shell Bay Club, the Witkoff family's private golf club outside Miami.
According to him , he was standing on the lawn, covered in tattoos, when Zach happened to drive by. "He could see I looked out of place, and he said, 'Come, get in a car with me,' and we started chatting in the golf cart." Thus, the Witkoff family introduced Chase Hero and its longtime business partner, Zak Folkman (WLFI), to another co-founded company of the Trump family (WLFI, called Date). The two families then hit it off, joining forces to create the current WLFI project.
Furthermore, market sources indicate that Chase Herro was associated with the DeFi project Dough Finance, which has been suspended since a July 2024 hack resulting in losses of approximately $2 million. Another surprising development is that WLFI officials have publicly claimed that Herro is a cryptocurrency millionaire, despite no public information supporting this claim. Over a dozen prominent industry figures have denied ever having heard of him in media interviews, a claim reinforced by Dough Finance's platform data of just $3.2 million. Chase Herro's story, however, suggests that his "identity miracle" may only occur in the cryptocurrency industry.
Zak Folkman: Co-founder of WLFI, founder of the dating app Date Hotter Girls, and member of Dough Finance
Like Chase Herro, Zak Folkman also rose from obscure crypto enthusiast to co-founder of the WLFI project. Previously, he founded the dating app Date Hotter Girls, offering guidance to down-and-out men on how to approach women. He and Chase Herro have collaborated for years, selling everything from colon cleansers to get-rich-quick schemes. They also co-founded the DeFi project Dough Finance. The successful public offering of the WLFI token was made possible by his and Chase Herro's tireless efforts to promote the token to numerous cryptocurrency startups and market influencers.
It's worth noting that, according to a previous New York Times report , in the process of selling WLFI tokens, some crypto startups were reportedly required to secretly pay millions of dollars to the WLFI project in exchange for the privilege of working with the Trump family. Although many companies rejected the offer, WLFI's second round of public fundraising was ultimately criticized as "WLFI essentially selling the traffic generated by its political endorsement and concealing this fact from the public." However, Zak Folkman stated, "Everything we do has received a lot of exposure and credibility endorsement." He also claimed that other business partners have pledged donations of $10 million to $30 million to WLFI.
Other key members of the WLFI team include CTO, compliance officer, and growth officer.
Due to space limitations, the following WLFI team members are only briefly introduced for readers' reference.
Corey Caplan: WLFI CTO; Dolomite co-founder, early Ethereum developer
Corey Caplan, while relatively unknown within the WLFI business, is a crucial technical leader. He officially joined the WLFI advisory team in August 2024 and subsequently became the project's Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Furthermore, he has been committed to building the Ethereum ecosystem since 2017, is an early developer, and the holder of CryptoPunk #7863.
Ryan Fang: Head of Growth at WLFI, Co-founder and COO of Ankr
Ryan Fang, co-founder and COO of Ankr, previously co-founded PrimeBlock and Tomo. He previously worked at the renowned investment bank Morgan Stanley before moving into private equity, earning him the title of "well-rounded talent" with both traditional financial experience and cryptocurrency industry expertise. Recently, he attended Bitcoin Asia and other events in Hong Kong alongside Eric Trump, Chase Herro, and Zak Folkman, and met with Nano Labs founder Kong Jianping . He also previously participated in the WLFI team's US stock market bell ringing ceremony.
It is worth mentioning that as a blockchain infrastructure service provider, Ankr plays an important role in providing cross-chain support, network distribution, and staking income for WLFI's stablecoin USD 1. USD 1 is thus able to flow freely on multiple chain networks such as Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Polygon, and quickly penetrate into more block applications and financial assets, and can also earn financial assets with the help of the ecosystem.
To some extent, Ryan Fang is an important node for WLFI to achieve in-depth cooperation with the BNB Chain ecosystem and Binance.
Brandi Reynolds, Chief Compliance Officer, WLFI
The account is currently in self-hidden state. Brandi Reynolds was previously the co-founder of CorCom, LLC, which was later acquired by Bates Group.
Matthew Morgan, Consultant, WLFI
Director of Alt 5 Sigma, co-founder of USD1 native launchpad platform BlockStreet, and previously attended Alt 5 Sigma's US stock bell ringing ceremony .
Dylan: USD 1, WLFI wallet team member
His identity was confirmed by a retweet from WLFI co-founder Zak Folkman. He had previously attracted attention from market users for expressing his views on "Aave will obtain 7% of WLFI tokens" and calling it "Fake News", and his identity was once questioned by many.
Ogle: WLFI and America.fun project consultant
He had previously attended President Trump's VIP dinner event for TRUMP token holders. In addition, he said he had assisted the Thala team in recovering $25 million in stolen funds within 6 hours; and assisted the Euler Finance team in recovering nearly $200 million in stolen funds.
The article " WLFI Co-Founder is an American Real Estate Tycoon! Exposing Core Members' Backgrounds and Involved Interests" originally appeared on ABMedia ABMedia .
