This move comes amid broader discussions on digital asset regulation and the feasibility of strategic reserves in the crypto market.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s crypto project, World Liberty Financial (WLF), plans to create a strategic reserve of tokens it purchases, WLF co-founder Chase Herro told audiences at Ondo Finance’s February 6 summit in New York.
According to Bloomberg, Herro, WLF co-founders Zak Folkman and Witkoff Capital president Zach Witkoff were all introduced by Donald Trump Jr. as they spearheaded a panel on Thursday held at Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Earlier on Thursday, reports emerged that a wallet belonging to WLF had purchased 342,000 ONDO tokens for $470,000 USDC.
While no specific details surrounding the crypto reserve were revealed, the tokenized real-world asset platform also announced plans to introduce its own layer-1 blockchain at the summit.
“Financial markets are overdue for an upgrade,” CEO Nathan Allman said in a statement. “We’re creating an ecosystem that bridges the best of traditional finance with blockchain technology.”
Witkoff, who is the son of Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, seemingly has a close affiliation with the Trump family, going so far as to name his newborn son Donald after the newly-elected president.
Trump, who widely campaigned on enacting fair digital asset regulations, helped to launch World Liberty Financial late last year.
Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump are listed as the crypto organization’s “Web3 ambassadors,” while Barron Trump is credited as the brand’s “DeFi visionary.”
The crypto collective has been at the heart of legal scrutiny in the past, with allegations of potential insider trading regarding certain token purchases – though this has not been confirmed.
Trump has long pushed the concept of a strategic Bitcoin reserve amid his growing connection to the digital asset sector.
Last month, Trump signed an executive order mandating the creation of a crypto working group aimed at evaluating U.S. digital asset policy on the heels of launching his own meme coin, aptly titled TRUMP.
Just this week, newly-selected crypto czar “David Sacks” told attendees of a Washington D.C. press conference that assessing the viability of a strategic Bitcoin reserve was of top priority following completed formation of the crypto working group.
Bitcoin’s value has stagnated in recent weeks after it experienced a post-election rally that saw it cross the psychologically important $100,000 mark.
Though the future of crypto reserves in the U.S. digital asset sector (and beyond) remains uncertain, upcoming policy developments may prompt new perspectives and strategies for how governments and institutions adopt digital assets — potentially shaping the broader financial environment in the coming years.
