VC Reportedly Rejected Trump Crypto Venture After Steve Witkoff’s Memecoin Blunder

Nic Carter reportedly almost joined World Liberty Financial (WLFI), the Trump family crypto venture. He allegedly walked away when cofounder Steve Witkoff said “memecoin” as “me-me” coins.

Carter described the 2024 Miami meeting to New York magazine. World Liberty says his account is wrong, and that it never offered him the job.

Witkoff Could not Explain the Product

Carter invests for Castle Island Ventures. He also voted for Trump in 2024. Witkoff wanted him as an advisor. But Witkoff could not describe the decentralized finance (DeFi) business.

“He didn’t know what crypto or DeFi was. He didn’t know what the pitch was,” the New York feature reported, citing Nic Carter.

Witkoff had one clear goal, Carter says. The launch had to happen before the election. That way Trump was still a private citizen.

Carter turned the role down. He warned the project could cost Trump votes. That is when Witkoff’s tone hardened.

World Liberty’s own Gold Paper supports part of that read. It says the sole utility of WLFI is governance. Holders get no right to any return or dividend.

WLFI Holders are Still Locked In

WLFI trades near $0.055, against a record of $0.3313 on Sept. 1, 2025. That was the first day of open trading. The price fell 40% before it ended.

World Liberty released only 20% of each investor’s tokens that day. Just 31.8% of the supply trades now. An April plan unlocks the rest from 2028. Holders who vote against it stay locked.

The company also added a contract function letting it freeze any wallet. That change landed eight days before trading opened.

Justin Sun was the largest early backer. He sued World Liberty Financial in California for fraud. The company countersued for defamation in Miami. Both cases remain at an early stage.

The venture has been lucrative for the family even as the token sank. Reporting on the Trump family crypto windfall tracks how little of it reached ordinary holders.

Carter saw a token with no business behind it. Two years on, most of the supply is still frozen. The unlock schedule runs past the end of Trump’s term.