World Liberty Financial – a project linked to current US President Donald Trump – is facing a wave of fierce criticism from its own investors after announcing a new governance proposal related to the unlocking timeframe for WLFI Token Lockup .
On April 16th, TRON founder Justin Sun – also the project's largest individual investor – publicly criticized the proposal on social media. According to him, the new plan is not governance but "an absurd governance scam." This statement immediately reignited the already simmering debate between him and the World Liberty Capital development team, especially after the project previously froze his WLFI Token .
According to the proposal, over 62 billion WLFI Token currently locked indefinitely will be moved to a fixed vesting schedule. Token held by the founding team, staff, advisors, and partners will be locked for two years, then unlocked linearly over the following three years. Additionally, this group must burn 4.5 billion WLFI. Meanwhile, early investors – currently holding over 17 billion WLFI – will have to accept a two-year cliff and two-year linear vesting mechanism, meaning they will have to wait until the fourth year to receive their full Token. Notably, those who do not accept the new schedule will continue to have Token Lockup indefinitely under the old terms, which many investors XEM as "coercion."
Justin Sun argued that the proposal was designed as a “logical trap”: if investors voted against, they would be punished by having their assets locked up again. He questioned the democratic nature of the process, arguing that only those who agreed would benefit. Sun further alleged that the real control of the WLFI smart contract lay in the hands of an anonymous multisig wallet, capable of overriding voting results and directly altering the contract. He claimed this rendered the entire on-chain voting process merely a formality.
Sun wasn't the only one reacting strongly; many members of the crypto community on social media also reacted strongly. Some even considered class-action lawsuits, claiming they were coerced into accepting unfavorable terms. The biggest concern is that the value of WLFI could plummet after the vesting period ends, coinciding with the final years of Donald Trump's presidency – a factor many investors believe played a significant Vai in the project's initial appeal.
