Compiled by: jk, Odaily Planet Daily
Editor's Note: On February 26, Denver time, Donald Trump Jr., co-founder of World Liberty Finance (WLFI), attended the ETH Denver peripheral event "DeFi World 2025" conference and discussed crypto regulatory policies, the future of DeFi, and the role of the United States with important guests from the crypto industry. His core views are as follows:
Necessity of regulatory framework: The cryptocurrency and DeFi sectors need a clear regulatory framework to define what can and cannot be done. He believes that the lack of clear regulation will force companies to go offshore and miss opportunities, and calls on the United States to formulate reasonable regulations to ensure investor safety and industry development.
The United States should lead the financial future: The United States should play a leading role in the financial future, rather than driving companies overseas through excessive regulation. He advocates that the United States should lead the global development of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology by enacting sensible regulations.
Financial democratization: Through projects such as World Liberty Finance, traditional finance is combined with decentralized finance to provide liquidity, stability and transparency to more people, thereby achieving financial democratization. He criticized the opacity and exclusivity of the existing financial system and believed that cryptocurrency and blockchain technology could provide equal financial opportunities for more people.
Technology and Innovation: He is confident in the potential of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, which will revolutionize the financial industry. He particularly emphasizes the importance of transparency and on-chain operations, believing that this can eliminate the opacity and corruption in traditional finance.
Advice for novices: It is recommended that novices start with small investments, gradually understand the cryptocurrency field, and avoid over-leverage. He emphasized the importance of education and participation, believing that only by truly participating in it can we better understand this rapidly developing field.
Expectations for the future: We are full of expectations for the future of World Liberty Finance and its partners. We believe that by integrating various technologies and projects, we can bring revolutionary changes to the global financial system and provide financial freedom and opportunities to more people.
Odaily Planet Daily's North American reporter jk participated in the event and edited the original conversation as follows~
Q: The United States is a major leader in the cryptocurrency space. What kind of policies do you think are needed?
Trump Jr.: I think the most important thing right now is that everyone needs a regulatory framework to clarify what can and cannot be done. When we entered this world, our family also participated in it through projects like WLFI. It's amazing that even if you have access to the best lawyers and experts in the world, no one really knows what you can and can't do. Few people are willing to face the excessive abuses in the cryptocurrency field by agencies such as the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). So I believe this is the future of finance. We want to democratize it, but people do need this regulatory framework to move forward and understand what can be done. If we don't do this, it will cause companies to be forced to go offshore, and the opportunity cost is huge. I think it's ridiculous. We need to create a regulatory framework that makes people feel safe and ensure that they can invest with confidence. I will no longer be in office after noon on January 20, but during the transition, we spent a lot of time bringing in people who understand not only traditional finance (TradFi), but also really understand cryptocurrency and decentralized finance (DeFi) in order to develop a reasonable regulatory framework and laws.
I think the problem I've seen in Washington, D.C. over the last few decades is that the people making the decisions often know nothing about the subject matter they're legislating on. They've just been there longer, so they have seniority, and they probably sit on some committee. I went into real estate after graduating from Wharton in 2000, and I saw the financial crisis of 2007-2008 firsthand. I saw people on those financial committees asking what seemed like pointed questions, but in reality they had no idea what was being discussed. If you really learn about these topics, you realize, my goodness, these people are making trillions of dollars of decisions without any basis for understanding. So we need a regulatory framework that's guided by people who really know what's going on, whether it's the new SEC chairman or Scott at the Treasury Department, et al.
I helped come up with ideas in the crypto space, like getting people like David SAS involved. He really understands this world. Initially we were only talking about AI, but I realized over dinner that he’s one of the greatest minds in tech, so why not get him in the crypto space as well? So we put together a team that really understands what we’re doing so that you don’t just get a bunch of regulations and roadblocks. This is a really critical opportunity where we can create something that the industry really needs. I think we have enough people who understand the industry to do that, rather than just because people make decisions without actual knowledge and the solution is worse than the problem itself.
To be honest, I think that over the last few years under the Biden administration, the SEC and the DOJ have put up so many barriers that have been almost destructive and even predatory in an attempt to stifle the incredible innovation that is cryptocurrency. The same is true for DeFi and other related technologies. Now, I think we have people who can put in place the framework, who understand this space, and who can open the floodgates and allow those who really want to grow in the United States to come in. They just want a reasonable environment in the United States and not worry about going to jail for 25 years for some nonsense. So I'm very excited about the actions that the new administration will take. I'm proud to be part of the team that helps move this forward.
My father would ultimately make those decisions himself, but he understood how critical this was to the future of finance. I think this is the future of finance. The United States should be at the forefront, not putting up all kinds of barriers to push these companies overseas. I'm very excited for those of us in government that we can do this correctly, make it meaningful, and dominate this industry for the foreseeable future, if not forever.
You launched your own cryptocurrency platform, WLFI. Can you tell us what is the vision and mission of this platform? How will it revolutionize the DeFi and TradFi space?
Trump Jr.: I think the real vision is to combine DeFi and traditional finance and make them blend into one. Everyone wants access to liquidity, but not everyone has access to it. I've learned this through my experience in politics over the past few years. A few months ago, I made some remarks online saying that the current financial system feels like a giant Ponzi scheme. The reason I said that is because when I entered the financial world after graduating from Wharton, I worked in real estate and finance in New York. As a Trump family member, I may not have realized it, but I was at the top of this financial pyramid. It was basically a Ponzi scheme, but I didn't know it at the time because I could reach anyone on the phone and get what I wanted. Because of who we are, because of our balance sheet, it was all very easy. But when we entered the political field, all of this access suddenly disappeared.
I realized how undemocratic the financial system is. As long as you do what they say, everything is fine. But if you don't, then a lot of people in the U.S., and even around the world, are discriminated against. So I think the idea is to bridge that gap and provide liquidity to people who have never had the opportunity. I think there are a lot of amazing things we can do. There are no bond products or treasury assets in the crypto space right now, and combining those two worlds, as I mentioned before, we need the right team to do this, which will bring liquidity and more importantly stability.
The real goal is to democratize finance. I think crypto is doing a great job of that, but there are still a lot of pitfalls. This space is still very new, and I'm sure there are some people in the room who have been in this space for 15 years, so it's not new to them. But I really feel like we're on the verge of a major breakthrough. So combining those two worlds is what we're trying to do and provide great products for people to use. I feel like a lot of people are artificially excluded from the traditional financial world, and they don't have access to these resources because they don't meet certain criteria or are not considered "sexy" or "cool" enough. So I'm really excited about being able to really democratize finance. As someone who was at the top of this artificial Ponzi scheme, I quickly realized what it felt like to be at the bottom of this scam. I realized that this is not what America is about, and this is not what financial freedom is about. So we're really excited to be in this space, grow with you all, and help all of these great products come together.
Regarding World Free Finance, it has recently reached cooperation with many partners, from Chile to Tron to Ondo Finance. I would like to ask you, what kind of partnerships is World Free Finance looking for?
Trump Jr.: Similar to the first question, we want to combine the worlds of traditional finance and cryptocurrency. We want to be an integrator that brings all the great things together and we're not going to do it all alone. We're looking for partners with all kinds of great projects. You mentioned some, but there are a lot more. We need these projects and their wisdom. We have to bring all of this great technology and great minds and great ideas together to, again, bridge that gap. I think if we can do that, if we can integrate, we can create the stability that's necessary for this space to take off. We can simplify some of the complexity and make it more accessible to the average American and people around the world. So we're looking for partnerships with some of these top projects to get everyone working in the same direction and really transform the entire industry.
I think you're going to see a lot more great announcements in the days, weeks, and months ahead. And like I said, it's been awesome to see all the people who understand this reaching out to us and thinking that we can be the catalyst to bring these great ideas together. I think that's very foundational and the most important part.
Blockchain and centralized finance have brought many solutions to the traditional financial market. What problems and challenges do you think it solves in traditional finance?
Trump Jr.: I think we need to create utility. A lot of these ideas are great, but if you've been in this space for a long time, you have access to the best people and minds. But for the average person, we have to try to create utility. I think there are a lot of solutions, and everybody wants to have that liquidity. People need to be able to get in and out of all of these areas. So I think the biggest solution that we can try to create is to create that utility, to bring all of the great partners together, and I think that's going to do it. It's going to take time.
Right now, it all feels like an “inside game,” but at the end of the day, it’s about creating utility. You can create a democratization of finance and bring other people into this space. As I mentioned before, this space used to be the exclusive domain of the rich and powerful. If we can create this utility and have everybody actually use it, make basic transactions easy, and bring liquidity into the market, it’s going to be a real game changer. You see other places competing for this as well.
I interviewed the leader of the Venezuelan opposition earlier, and she won over 90% of the vote. She's a big supporter of cryptocurrency because even with 90% of the vote, they were able to silence her, shut down her business, cut off her communications. I think once you create the utility, create the electronic signature, put it on the chain, you have transparency. There's a lot we can do to level the playing field for people who don't have access. I think it's very exciting. I think it's a game changer not only for the industry, but for the world and freedom itself.
There may be some people out there who are not happy with that answer, but listen, we've seen in the United States what they can do. If you don't buy into their narrative, they're going to go after you. They did it when my father was first president, and even though he was the most powerful man in the world, at least on paper, they could cut you off. They can only push a narrative and exploit that bias. Even in the United States, you would think it's impossible, but you see what they do, you see the attacks they've done on a lot of people, you see the incarceration of big names in the early cryptocurrency space, like Ross Ulbricht, who paved the way for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. It doesn't matter that they don't like any of that.
We are moving toward a world that is independent of power, and that is very scary for a lot of dictatorships. I think some of those regimes may be closer to us than we think.
The revolution in the DeFi space started in 2020, and since then, it has evolved from staking, re-staking, various innovative DEXs to modular DEXs, etc. But this space is still very new and there is a lot of growth opportunity. There are still a lot of people trying to understand the basics. So, I was wondering from your personal experience, what advice would you give to those who are just entering this space? How would you recommend them to get started and get feedback?
Trump Jr.: Yeah, there's new stuff coming out every day. I think what you need to do is start reading the news. I'm saying don't read the fake news. You have to have a diverse set of perspectives on this space. You can't just read what one account is saying on X, they could be promoting something. I think you need to read everything you can about DeFi and start educating yourself, and it'll make everything less scary.
Start small, don't invest too much money. Don't overexpose yourself. For someone just starting out, invest $100 into Bitcoin, or $1,000. Once you're actually involved, not just watching, even if it's a small amount, you'll start to pay attention to this space. All of a sudden, you'll see that it's not so mysterious anymore. If you explain this to a baby boomer, they'll probably be very interested. There's a lot of mystery in this space, but if you start to try and get involved, even if it's a small amount, you'll start to understand it. I know when I started investing some real money, all of a sudden I started paying attention to everything. Once you start paying attention to everything and reading about it, you start to tell what's real and what's bullshit. You realize that there are people who are promoting something just for their own benefit. In this way, you become more alert.
I saw my 16-year-old son start playing with some of the memes. It's amazing. You see a kid suddenly get interested in finance, he puts some money in, starts talking about liquidity. All of a sudden he's like a banker who worked at Goldman Sachs for 20 years. Because he put money in, he starts paying attention and getting involved. It's amazing. I think for people, this is the future of finance. So even if you've been in this space for a while, you're still in the early stages.
As this space grows, for a young entrepreneur, you can learn a lot by putting some money in and getting involved. It's the best way to understand the basics of business and entrepreneurship. I come from a real estate family, and we've been in real estate for a long time. You can't take a 15-year-old and play real estate because everything is so slow. We live in a world of instant gratification. If you play Meme Coin, it's not always instant gratification, sometimes it's the opposite. When he starts paying attention and putting money in, it's no longer a theoretical thing, he starts to really understand it. For everyone, young or old, get into this space, put some money in, don't over-leverage, don't bet the house, but start getting involved. When you do that, I think the learning curve goes up like a rocket. It was for him, and it was for me. Just going from being a spectator to a participant is really key. We're in a very early stage, which is awesome.
For him, I started encouraging him to do that because I was so excited to see, the stock market is great, but you buy some stock and then sit there for 15 years, it might appreciate, but it's not that rapid, it's not that dramatic. I think in 18 months, he learned more that way than he did at Wharton. It was amazing. So I say, get into this, don't do anything crazy, but start playing with things that you're willing to lose because it could happen. But just being a participant instead of a spectator, your senses become sharper, and that's critical.
Last question. What inspires you? What are you most excited about coming up this year?
Trump Jr.: Honestly, I think the most exciting thing for me is WLFI. It's been so fun to see how this all plays out. I've been a hard asset real estate guy my whole life and have been involved in politics over the last few years because I really believe in freedom, and I think freedom was really in danger. It's been very exciting to be able to do things differently and try to put everything on-chain.
I think people should know, "Hey, you own stock in a company whose CEO tells you it's great, but the CEO is quietly selling it." I think that's a problem. So I think it's really important to create a product that's as transparent and as clear as possible. Put it on-chain so that people understand that if you're buying or selling, we're going to talk about it. We're going to show you what we're doing so that it's no longer about insiders and outsiders. We're moving away from the traditional financial model where I know some bankers are making seven figures a year and they have great jobs, but I don't even know what they're doing. We've been talking about what we're doing with the WLFI Strategic Reserve, and we're going to launch a lot of other great products. Being able to come out of a world of hard asset real estate and get into this space where we buy and hold for the long term. I think we believe there's huge potential in this space.
I spend a lot of time making sure my father's administration has nothing to do with what we do. They're independent and separate from the family business, but we can create that clarity so that other people understand, and hopefully we can run it in a way that other people see that transparency. They see what we're doing on-chain, and it takes the mystery out of these things. We can really create a democratized financial platform where everyone has a chance to win, everyone has a chance to thrive, and everyone knows what everyone else is doing.
Remove some of the opacity that can exist in the world. So I'm really excited about it. For those who haven't been following, check out the X account at WLFI. Everybody's trying to do something, saying they're doing something else. Unless you hear it directly from my mouth, my brother's mouth, or the mouths of other great members of the team, take your information from there. I'm really excited about this project, with the great people that we've gathered, not only the people on the team, but other partners and great entrepreneurs. And as you mentioned before, and others who are coming on board, they seem to be contacting us every day.
I think we really have the ability to bring all the great minds and ideas and technologies together to fight for what we believe in. If we want the world to see that, I think when we do that, these things will take off. More people will get involved and stop watching from the sidelines because they'll be able to really see what's going on out there.
I'm really excited about it. Every day we talk about this project, some people are going to do the wrong thing, but there's a lot more to come. So I'm really excited to be a part of this industry and really take on the responsibility of helping to reshape the future of finance. It's going to be incredible.
Any insider information on sovereign crypto funds? Does WLFI have one?
Trump Jr.: Regarding the fund, I know this is a transition period. I have to be clear, I am not in the administration.
David S, who's in the crypto space, understands this space. He understands that in the world that we live in, you can see these things happening on day one. These ideas of multi-billion and multi-hundred-billion-dollar potential. So you can see in this space, oh gosh, it didn't happen at 12 noon on January 20th. But these things take time, they don't magically appear. You need to do these things right. So I know there are people who are watching all of these things.
I know there are people in the administration who absolutely believe in this. But you have to understand that as much as you might want to do something right away, you have to work within the framework of reality. So I think it's definitely something you might see in the near future. I'm not in the administration right now, but I know there are discussions about getting this done. It's not something you can just snap your fingers and magically appear. You're dealing with huge amounts of money that have to go through the proper channels. Washington, D.C., doesn't operate in a reasonable way, it's not transparent, and you can't see what's really going on. Those who are working against you in the shadows.
If you've been paying attention over the last nine years, you may have noticed this. So all of these ideas have been discussed. I have to keep to myself. You know, I'm not going to get the Hunter Biden treatment. They're people who believe in this. They understand the value of it. They understand that America has to be at the forefront and not encourage an environment that pushes people away. So I think you'll see these things, but if you're disappointed that it didn't happen in the first moment, I'm sorry, but that's not realistic either.
We've always followed the rules of the world that we live in. So I think you're going to see a lot of things. I think you're going to see a lot of exciting movement, not just in the DeFi space, but in crypto and blockchain technology. I think a lot of these things are going to be utilized. They're going to create some incredible things that people can use and create, and again fill in some of that utility that's really missing.
As you know, these things don't happen overnight. You need to give it some time. But I think you're going to see some incredible things. I think ultimately, the people who have the confidence that we're talking about these things are going to be very satisfied. You just have to wait a little longer.
That's awesome, I must say. I'm really glad you didn't get treated like Hunter Biden did.
Trump Jr.: My father raised me a little differently. I was doing this when I was Hunter's age. The Democrats will try it again.
