WLFI sees 530% surge in derivatives volume to $4.6B ahead of unlock

The Trump-linked WLFI token is set to unlock its first tranche today at 8:00 a.m. ET, leading to a surge in activity across major exchanges. OKX has announced that it will start spot trading for WLFI, changing all pre-sale futures into perpetual contracts.

According to CoinGlass, the derivative trading volume for WLFI increased by over 530% to over $4.6 billion on Sunday. At the time of writing, open interest is up by over 60% to around $941 million. The derivative opened on August 23 at $0.41 and is currently down at $0.32, but continues to receive vigorous activity. The WLFI token’s current price is $0.0115 according to CoinMarketCap data, with a fully diluted volume of $453.15K.

WLFI token begins trading on Monday, September 1

According to CoinGlass, Binance WLFI derivative trading accounted for the most transactions, with a volume exceeding $2.21 billion over the past 24-hour period. The crypto exchange platform also recorded more than $443 million in open interest. OKX and Bitget exchanges recorded $924 and $648 million in volume, respectively.

WLFI is officially coming to @binance the largest crypto exchange in the world 

— WLFI (@worldlibertyfi) September 1, 2025

The WLFI project announced that 20% of the tokens purchased in early fundraising rounds at around $0.015 to $0.05 will be unlocked today via the ‘Lockbox’ process to control how early investors claim and release their tokens. 

If the current price range holds, early investors accounting for at least 5% of the total supply may receive up to 20 times their initial investments. The Trump family holds 22.5 billion tokens via DEFI LLC, which places them at just over $25.9 million with the current price. The tokens are subject to scrutiny before unlocking.

The WLFI token allows holders to stake a yield, vote on proposals, and provide liquidity to DeFi exchanges. It incorporates a fixed supply and deflationary mechanisms that support long-term trading. According to CoinGlass data, at least 14,000 wallets hold the token, showing a growth in interest in the project’s early adoption.

Investors await WLFI’s trading debut amid USD1 launch on Solana 

World Liberty Financial recently revealed its plan to launch a USD1 stablecoin backed by the dollar. WLFI described it as a stablecoin that meets the internet capital markets, and more details will follow soon. The project launched the stablecoin today on Solana with a 1:1 redeemable basis for the U.S. dollar.

Abu Dhabi state firm has already committed $2 billion to support the project, showing a growing interest in governments integrating DeFi.

Despite the good news surrounding the project, it has attracted scrutiny from rival politicians and watchdogs, who have cited potential conflicts of interest. The Democrats’ proposal to impose restrictions on the GENIUS Act stablecoin bill, which Trump recently signed into law, failed to advance. 

Cryptopolitan reported that the lawmakers questioned how oversight would be handled as the legislation places USD1 stablecoin regulation under the OCC and Federal Reserve. The Democrat senators posed a warning that the President’s executive order to increase influence over regulators may risk unprecedented outcomes to the American financial system. 

Investors await the token debut to see how it will test the project’s ability to sustain momentum in the competitive DeFi landscape.  Those speculating on the token have already anticipated rewards, with one notable Whale on Hyperliquid, who used three times leverage to make over $1 million in profit from a position of 8.6 million tokens valued at $3.2 million.