Trump’s World Liberty Forum Draws Goldman, FIFA, CFTC Chair as $1.4B Crypto Empire Expands Under Political Fire

World Liberty Financial will host its inaugural World Liberty Forum at Mar-a-Lago on February 18, 2026, assembling 300 global leaders including Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, FIFA President Gianni Infantino, and CFTC Chairman Michael Selig.

The gathering comes as the Trump family’s crypto venture has generated $1.4 billion in 16 months—more than Trump’s real estate empire produced in eight years—through WLFI token sales, a $500 million UAE stake acquisition, and a rapidly growing USD1 stablecoin operation. Co-founder Zak Folkman used the Consensus stage in Hong Kong to unveil World Swap, a remittance platform targeting the $7 trillion cross-border payments market. The convergence of presidential power, foreign capital, and personal profit has triggered a House probe, ethics complaints, and urgent questions about where the business ends and the state begins.

Mar-a-Lago, February 18: The Guest List That Controls Trillions

When Donald Trump Jr. says “a select group of 300 global leaders” is gathering at his father’s Florida club, the usual translation is diplomatic flattery. In this case, it is understatement.

The World Liberty Forum, scheduled for February 18, 2026, reads less like a corporate offsite and more like a shadow G20. The confirmed speaker list includes David Solomon, chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs; Jenny Johnson, CEO of Franklin Templeton; Michael Selig, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission; and Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA . Also present: Kelly Loeffler of the Small Business Administration, Jacob Helberg from the White House economic team, and senators Ashley Moody and Bernie Moreno.

The private equity and hedge fund contingent is equally dense. Gerry Cardinale of RedBird Capital (and owner of AC Milan), Behdad Eghbali of Clearlake Capital, Daniel Loeb of Third Point, and Philippe Laffont of Coatue Management are all confirmed .

Collectively, these institutions manage trillions. That they are spending a February afternoon at a crypto forum hosted by the Trump family is not merely a signal of industry acceptance. It is a recognition that World Liberty Financial, launched less than two years ago, has become something stranger and more potent than a typical DeFi protocol.

“This forum is about defining what the next century of American innovation, leadership, and economic influence will look like,” Donald Trump Jr. said in a statement . The phrasing is grandiose. The attendance suggests he may be serious.

The $1.4 Billion Question: How WLFI Out-Earned a Real Estate Empire

World Liberty Financial has generated at least $1.4 billion for the Trump and Witkoff families since November 2024 . For context, Trump’s real estate empire took eight years to produce $1.2 billion in cash between 2010 and 2017.

The mechanics of this wealth creation are worth examining because they bear little resemblance to traditional crypto startup economics.

WLFI’s governance token sale raised $550 million across two phases: 20 billion tokens at $0.015, then an additional 5 billion at $0.05 . The price escalation signaled strong demand, but the distribution structure mattered more. According to disclosures, 75% of WLFI token sale proceeds flow directly to a Trump entity, 12.5% to Witkoff entities, and 12.5% to co-founders Zak Folkman and Chase Herro. President Trump owns 70% of that Trump entity; unnamed family members control the remaining 30% .

The second major infusion came from Abu Dhabi. On January 16, 2025—four days before the inauguration—Eric Trump signed an agreement granting a 49% stake in World Liberty to Aryam Investment 1, a firm controlled by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s national security adviser . The price: $500 million. The Trump family received $187 million upfront; Witkoff entities received at least $31 million .

The third leg is the USD1 stablecoin. Launched in 2025, it is backed by U.S. government money market funds and available across multiple blockchains. Folkman announced at Consensus Hong Kong that World Liberty Markets, the lending platform designed to drive USD1 adoption, has recorded $320 million in lending activity and more than $200 million borrowed within four weeks of launch .

If USD1’s circulating supply continues expanding, analysts estimate the Trump family’s aggregate profit from the stablecoin alone could push total gains toward $4 billion .

What Is World Liberty Financial? The DeFi Protocol Built on a Political Brand

World Liberty Financial describes itself as a decentralized finance protocol and governance platform dedicated to “democratizing access to DeFi” through transparent, accessible tools . Its two primary products are the WLFI governance token, which confers voting rights on protocol proposals, and USD1, a dollar-pegged stablecoin designed for payments, lending, and cross-border settlement.

In practice, WLFI functions less like a typical DAO and more like a tightly held family venture. Token holders can vote on protocol parameters, but 75% of sale economics flow to insiders. The “decentralization” rhetoric coexists with a ownership structure that would be concentrated even by traditional startup standards.

The project’s stated mission—“to empower individuals through transparent, accessible, and secure financial solutions”—is indistinguishable from dozens of other DeFi protocols. What distinguishes WLFI is its brand anchor. The Trump name, cultivated over decades in real estate, television, and politics, is now attached to a token that trades on sentiment about its namesake’s political fortunes.

That has proven extraordinarily lucrative. It has also proven legally and ethically complicated.

World Swap: Taking on SWIFT and Western Union

On February 12, Folkman took the stage at Consensus Hong Kong to announce World Liberty’s next major product: World Swap, a foreign exchange and remittance platform .

The pitch is simple. More than $7 trillion moves across borders annually, and traditional intermediaries extract significant fees from those flows. World Swap aims to connect users directly to debit cards and bank accounts globally, settling FX remittances at “a fraction of” incumbent costs .

The timing is aggressive. World Liberty Markets, the lending platform, is barely a month old. USD1 adoption is still in its early innings. Yet Folkman signaled that remittances are a natural extension of the stablecoin thesis: if USD1 can facilitate cheap, instant dollar transfers, the cross-border payments market is the largest addressable opportunity.

“All of this has been taxed very heavily by the incumbent players,” Folkman said .

He is correct about the market size and the fee burden. He is also correct that stablecoins are already disrupting remittance corridors. What remains unproven is whether a politically saturated brand can compete on purely technical and economic terms—and whether regulators will permit a sitting president’s family to operate a global payments network while his administration sets financial and trade policy.

The UAE Stake: $500 Million, 49%, and a Congressional Probe

The Abu Dhabi deal is the single most contested element of World Liberty’s rise.

The agreement, signed days before the 2025 inauguration, granted Sheikh Tahnoon’s investment vehicle a 49% stake—just below the threshold that would trigger certain CFIUS reviews. Two of the sheikh’s lieutenants joined World Liberty’s board . Simultaneously, the Trump administration was negotiating a major AI chip export deal with the UAE, ultimately approving the transfer of computing power equivalent to 35,000 of Nvidia’s latest GB300 processors .

The temporal overlap has drawn intense scrutiny. In September 2025, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Elissa Slotkin called for an investigation. The House Financial Services Committee has since launched a formal probe, demanding records by March 1, 2026 .

The investigation is examining whether $187 million flowed to Trump entities in connection with the UAE stake, how USD1 was used to settle a $2 billion Binance investment by Sheikh Tahnoon’s MGX firm, and whether any World Liberty personnel discussed the later presidential pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao .

The White House has denied any connection. “The president has no involvement in business deals that would implicate his constitutional responsibilities,” White House counsel David Warrington stated .

Yet the documents requested by Congress include communications between World Liberty executives and administration officials. The March 1 deadline is approaching. How the probe resolves will determine whether WLFI’s foreign capital pipeline remains open or faces regulatory sanctions.

Key Numbers: World Liberty Financial by the Metrics

• Total Trump/Witkoff family proceeds (16 months): $1.4 billion
• Trump real estate cash generation (8 years, 2010–2017): $1.2 billion
• WLFI token sale proceeds: $550 million ($300M at $0.015, $250M at $0.05)
• UAE stake price: $500 million for 49% ownership
• Upfront payment to Trump entities: $187 million
• Upfront payment to Witkoff entities: $31 million
• USD1 lending platform activity (4 weeks): $320M lending volume, $200M borrowed
• Annual cross-border remittance volume: $7 trillion
• WLFI token price (post-Alt5 decline): $0.10
• Alt5 Sigma share price decline: 75%+ (from $7.50 to $1.70)

The Alt5 Mechanism: How a Nasdaq Shell Turbocharged WLFI Sales

World Liberty’s capital-raising architecture includes a less-publicized but structurally significant component: the Alt5 Sigma transaction.

WLFI acquired a controlling stake in Alt5 Sigma, a small Nasdaq-listed firm. Alt5 then raised $750 million from investors at $7.50 per share and directed almost all of that capital into buying WLFI tokens at $0.20—a 60% premium to what private investors had recently paid .

The effect was a $500 million injection into Trump entities and $90 million to Witkoff entities, sourced not from retail token buyers but from institutional investors routed through a public company shell.

When Alt5 shares subsequently collapsed more than 75% to $1.70, major holders including Point72 ($37 million) and Soul Ventures ($85 million) began shedding positions . WLFI tokens, which had traded as high as $0.50 during earlier rounds, dropped to $0.10.

The episode illustrates both the creativity of WLFI’s capital formation and its fragility. The project has raised enormous sums, but secondary market support has proven thin once the initial buying pressure is exhausted.

The Ethics Question: When the President’s Portfolio Tracks Policy

The core conflict is not whether Trump family members are legally permitted to operate a crypto business while a Trump occupies the Oval Office. It is whether the perception of that conflict has become so pervasive that it distorts both markets and governance.

WLFI token prices move on political news. When Trump’s approval ratings slip, WLFI’s secondary market softens. When the UAE chip deal was announced, USD1 issuance accelerated. This feedback loop is not hypothetical; it is observable.

Ethics experts have warned that the arrangement inverts normal conflict-of-interest safeguards. Instead of placing assets in a blind trust, the president’s family operates a venture that actively courts foreign sovereign capital and issues a token that functions, in part, as a sentiment index on presidential power.

The White House has repeatedly denied any impropriety. The Trump family has noted that President Trump himself holds no executive role in World Liberty Financial and receives no direct salary or consulting fees.

Yet the financial disclosures tell a different story. The Trump entity, DT Marks DEFI LLC, is controlled by the president. Its 70% share of the 75% family allocation means that when WLFI token sales occur, the plurality of proceeds flow to an entity he owns . The distinction between personal ownership and operational control, in this context, is semantic.

Four Takeaways from the World Liberty Forum Announcement

The institutionalization is real. Goldman, Franklin Templeton, and the NYSE do not attend Florida forums for photo opportunities. Their presence signals that WLFI has successfully translated political proximity into legitimate financial partnerships.

Remittances are the next battlefield. World Swap targets a $7 trillion market dominated by Western Union, SWIFT, and correspondent banking networks. If WLFI can demonstrate real execution here, the project’s valuation narrative shifts from speculation to utility.

The UAE stake is a liability that will not dissipate. The House probe has teeth. March 1 is a hard deadline. Any finding of improper coordination between WLFI’s foreign fundraising and administration policy decisions would trigger sanctions, asset freezes, and permanent reputational damage.

WLFI’s economics remain insider-concentrated. Token sales have enriched founders and family members. Whether ordinary holders will realize comparable returns depends on sustained secondary demand and protocol revenue—neither of which is guaranteed.

What Comes Next: March 1, USD1 Growth, and the 2026 Agenda

World Liberty Financial enters March 2026 with three immediate priorities.

First, the House probe deadline. The committee has demanded records on the UAE stake, the Binance transaction, and communications regarding the Changpeng Zhao pardon . Full compliance may not resolve political opposition, but resistance would invite subpoenas and escalation.

Second, USD1 adoption. Folkman’s $320 million lending volume figure is early but promising. The stablecoin market is dominated by USDT and USDC; displacing either requires sustained liquidity, exchange listings, and merchant acceptance. World Liberty has signaled it intends to compete aggressively.

Third, the World Swap rollout. No firm launch date has been set, but the announcement at Consensus positions remittances as the 2026 product narrative. If World Swap can demonstrate lower fees and faster settlement than incumbents, it will validate WLFI’s thesis that a politically branded DeFi protocol can win on technical merit.

Who Is Zak Folkman? The Operator Behind the Curtain

Folkman, WLFI’s co-founder and chief operating officer, has emerged as the public face of the project’s product expansion. He announced World Swap in Hong Kong, disclosed the lending platform metrics, and represents WLFI at industry conferences.

Alongside Chase Herro, Folkman controls 12.5% of token sale proceeds. He is not a Trump family member; he is an external operator who structured a deal that directed 75% of proceeds to family entities and retained a substantial allocation for himself and his co-founder.

His visibility at Consensus, speaking on the same stage as institutional DeFi founders, signals that WLFI intends to be taken seriously as a technology company—not merely a political novelty. Whether the market agrees will depend on whether World Swap ships and whether USD1 sustains its growth trajectory.

The World Liberty Forum will convene on February 18, 2026, at Mar-a-Lago. David Solomon will speak. Gianni Infantino will speak. Michael Selig will speak. They will discuss the future of finance, the promise of digital assets, and the importance of public-private collaboration.

They will not, in all likelihood, discuss the $187 million wire transfer that arrived from Abu Dhabi four days before the inauguration. They will not discuss the 49% stake held by a foreign national security adviser. They will not discuss the March 1 deadline or the House subpoenas or the ethics complaints.

That silence is the other half of the story. It is the part that happens offstage, in boardrooms and legal filings and classified document requests. The forum is about defining the next century of American innovation. It is also about the present—messy, lucrative, and unresolved.