Sui Token Surges as WLFI Adds to Reserve Despite Controversy

On March 6, Sui, a layer-1 blockchain developed by San Francisco-based Mysten Labs, announced a partnership with World Liberty Financial (WLFI). This collaboration includes the addition of Sui’s native token, SUI, to WLFI’s “Macro Strategy” strategic token reserve, with both entities exploring potential product development opportunities together.

WLFI, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, has faced scrutiny due to its ties to the family of former US President Donald Trump. While WLFI maintains that no family members hold officer or director positions, Eric Trump serves as one of the board managers. This connection has raised questions about the protocol's independence and legitimacy.

Additionally, WLFI’s reliance on Aave v3 for lending and borrowing functions has led to skepticism about its originality and innovation within the DeFi space. Critics argue that WLFI is merely repackaging existing services under a different brand, rather than offering genuine value.

Sui’s inclusion in WLFI’s reserve is not entirely surprising, given Eric Trump’s public support for and personal holdings in the cryptocurrency. The partnership has been met with mixed reactions from the industry. While the Sui community and its development team largely celebrated the news, some participants expressed concerns over WLFI’s legitimacy and business model.

Criticism of WLFI has centered on its value proposition, with many questioning whether it brings anything new to DeFi. Mike Dudas, managing partner at a crypto venture fund, dismissed the project as a “pay-to-play” scheme. Andre Cronje, co-founder of Sonic Labs, highlighted high fees and questionable reinvestment strategies that extract value from crypto firms rather than providing genuine utility.

“Alan,” chief marketing officer of Axia8 Ventures, echoed these concerns, stating that projects often bend the knee in hopes that their token might be included in a reserve to pump the token’s price. WLFI has not publicly addressed these criticisms.

Sui’s object-centric data model and parallel transaction execution make it an appealing infrastructure for DeFi applications. Unlike traditional account-based models, Sui structures assets as independent objects, enabling faster ownership transfers and instant updates without requiring full network-wide consensus. This design enhances liquidity movement, collateral management, and smart contract efficiency in DeFi.

Onchain data suggests WLFI holds around $80 million