Trump’s cryptocurrency project buys tokens linked to Justin Sun

(Bloomberg) — Donald Trump’s cryptocurrency platform, World Liberty Financial, appears to have exchanged nearly $10 million of what is known as wrapped Bitcoin launched through Coinbase Global Inc. Versus similar tokens linked to project consultant Justin Sun.

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A digital wallet affiliated with the project on Wednesday replaced its entire holding of 103 cbBTC tokens with WBTC, the first widely adopted Bitcoin fork, according to blockchain data analysis firm Nansen. Wrapped Bitcoin tokens allow Bitcoin holders to participate in decentralized finance activities on the Ethereum blockchain. World Liberty has been promoted as a DeFi lending platform, although it is not yet operational.

“This is their financial choice, and I have nothing to do with it,” Son said in a direct message. A World Liberty Financial spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sun, a prominent Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur, perhaps best known most recently for paying $6.2 million at a Sotheby’s auction for a wall-mounted banana, invested $30 million in World Liberty Financial and became an advisor to the project in November. It appears that this leak pushed the project beyond the point that would allow Trump to benefit from the project.

Cryptocurrency custodian BitGo, operator of Wrapped Bitcoin, announced in August that it had launched a partnership and joint venture with Hong Kong-based BiT Global through a strategic partnership involving Sun. This announcement sparked backlash from others involved in the project. Not only did Coinbase seek to delist WBTC from its exchange, but it also launched its own version of encapsulated Bitcoin, called cbBTC.

Earlier this month, BiT Global filed a lawsuit against Coinbase over its delisting. In response to the lawsuit, Coinbase noted that in concluding its efforts, Sun’s “association” and “potential control of” WBTC poses an “unacceptable risk to its customers and the integrity of its exchange.” A federal judge in California this week ruled in Coinbase’s favor, denying BiT Global’s request for a temporary restraining order to prevent delisting.

The token transfer comes on the heels of World Liberty’s purchases of cryptocurrencies such as AAVE and LINK last week. Additionally, World Liberty wallets received about $250,000 worth of tokenized ONDO, the Ondo Finance token, on December 15, Nansen data shows.

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