On-chain data revealed that the U.S. Donald Trump family-backed World Liberty Finance (WLFI) sold 73 Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) on Thursday. The firm sold the assets for $5.04 million in USD Coin (USDC) at $69,000 per WBTC.
According to Arkham data, WLFI offloaded the assets in 2 batches. The first batch sold for $2.77 million, while the second sold for approximately $2.28 million.
WLFI seeks to rebalance its digital asset portfolio through sales of WBTC
WLFI had last sold about 93.77 WBTC in late January, which was worth roughly $8 million at the time. The firm revealed that the proceeds were used to purchase approximately 2,868 ETH at $2,813 per token.
The Trump-family-backed firm also converted 13.56 WBTC worth approximately $1.3 million into Ethereum in early January. The move came as WLFI had swapped 162.69 WBTC worth around $14.98 million at the time from the Aave lending protocol, which coincides with the recent WBTC sales.
On-chain data revealed that shortly after the WLFI Strategic Reserve withdrew WBTC from Aave, the address immediately sold approximately 27.1 WBTC, worth around $2.5 million, for 770.6 Wrapped Ethereum (WETH) via Cowswap. Prior to this withdrawal, the firm also added 7,900 ETH ($21 million), 162.69 WBTC ($17.91 million), and 5,000 stETH ($13.31 million) into Aave V3.
WLFI’s recent sales are part of an active on-chain rebalancing of digital assets by its Strategic Reserve. WLFI’s sale of WBTC for Ethereum comes as ETH is trading nearly 10% in the last 24 hours, currently exchanging hands at around $1,931 at the time of publication.
The World Liberty Finance came under scrutiny from lawmakers at a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Wednesday. During the hearing, Representative Gregory Meeks questioned U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent about WLFI’s links to the United Arab Emirates.ndin
WLFI comes under scrutiny for its previous investments
Meeks’ query stemmed from a recent Wall Street Journal report that revealed an investment entity backed by Emirati Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan had acquired a 49% stake in WLFI for $500 million. The transaction came under question because it happened just days before Trump’s inauguration in January 2025.
Trump had previously denied any knowledge of the investment. The agreement was signed by Eric Trump, and Trump also implied that oversight of the project rests with his family.
The WSJ reported $187 million of the investment went to Trump family-backed entities. $31 million was also allocated to entities tied to the family of Steve Witkoff, WLFI’s co-founder and current U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East.
The probe into WLFI comes as it filed an application in January with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to establish a bank charter. Meeks urged Bessent to pause any bank charter linked to WLFI until an investigation into the firm’s conflicts of interest is complete.
Bessent, who leads the Treasury’s Financial Stability Oversight Council, argued that the OCC is an independent entity. Meeks told Bessent to stop covering for the President.
U.S. Representative Ro Khanna also sent a formal letter demanding ownership records, payment details, and internal communications from World Liberty Finance. He framed the inquiry around potential conflicts of interest, national security risks tied to AI chip export controls. He also sought to know the role of WLFI’s USDI stablecoin in a separate $2 billion Binance investment.
Khanna questioned the details of the reported Emirati investment and whether $187 million flowed to Trump family-linked entities. He also asked whether any additional payments had been made to affiliates of WLFI’s co-founders. Lawmakers also requested the firm’s capitalization tables, profit distributions, board appointment records, and materials tied to Aryam Investment 1.
Source: https://www.cryptopolitan.com/world-liberty-finance-offloads-73-wbtc/
