The podcast announced the creation of WLFT, a non transferable governance token.
How do you actually make a token "non transferable?"
Ultimately, the cryptographic key decides who owns the token. So even if the token isn't directly transferable, you can still package the key within a vault, and transfer the vault. Sadly this is an area I haven't really kept up on in detail over the past 5 years. Can someone explain if there is a way to make something that can't be encapsulated into a different instrument?
What exactly are your purchasing when buying this governance token?
Influence? voting rights? OK. But if you can't transfer the token, and you become disillusioned with the direction your peers are taking the organization, is there no exit strategy at all? How exactly does this work? You and your progeny are stuck with this forever?
Why does the team need 20% for incentive?
If it's a non transferable token for governance only, how exactly does withholding 20% of these for team compensation help? In order for this to make sense, the tokens must have a financial value. What is the financial value for these things? It seems this is just to make sure that insiders have significant control of the board of this organization. This is probably the most disappointing aspect of the announcement. Similarly, what is the 17% for "incentives"? How does a non transferable governance token incentivize people? I don't think I want people "incentivized" to control me or platforms that I use. The customers should be the ones ultimately dictating direction.
The general talk around this platform is they are going to be lending "stable coins" to the public. Sadly, there is exactly zero information so far about how they intend to administer or audit these stable coins, or even what the products are going to be.
Trump really failed spectacularly on this one. If he was hoping to energize the crypto community in his favor, this was a massive bust. And it doesn't give me any confidence he's going to do a good job reshaping the US economy as we move forward through this crisis if this is the best he can do at sharing his vision. I understand this is his company and not the government (yet), but people have patterns. And this pattern is disturbing to say the least.
I posted an article yesterday that said it could be unlocked by a crypto-friendly Trump appointment:
https://popular.info/p/trump-teams-up-with-pickup-artist
Another complicating factor is that, currently, the Securities and Exchange Commission treats most new crypto tokens as securities, particularly when marketed as investment opportunities. This means that absent complying with the SEC's regulations on issuing securities, World Liberty Financial's governance token could be illegal.
The company appears to be getting around this problem by making its governance tokens non-transferable at the outset. According to the white paper, the tokens will be "locked indefinitely in a wallet or smart contract until such time, if ever, [the tokens] are unlocked through protocol governance procedures in a manner that does not contravene applicable law." In other words, a future Trump administration could unlock the value of World Liberty Financial's tokens by appointing an SEC chair who is friendly to the crypto industry.