Overview
- Senators Elizabeth Warren and Jack Reed asked federal authorities to investigate whether World Liberty Financial sold $WLFI governance tokens to wallets tied to North Korea, Russia, Iran, and Tornado Cash.
- The request cites a watchdog report alleging transactions including about $10,000 in tokens linked on-chain to North Korea’s Lazarus Group and exposure to a sanctioned Russian sanctions‑evasion tool and an Iranian exchange.
- The lawmakers say the reported sales suggest weak sanctions and anti–money laundering controls and could let illicit actors influence protocol governance.
- A Trump‑affiliated entity, DT Marks DEFI LLC, holds 22.5 billion $WLFI tokens and is entitled to 75% of token‑sale proceeds, raising conflict‑of‑interest concerns noted by the senators.
- World Liberty Financial denies wrongdoing, says it enforces strict AML/KYC and rejected millions from noncompliant buyers, and the push for scrutiny arrives as Congress negotiates crypto market‑structure rules affecting governance tokens.