'Huge' DeFi announcement teased by two of Trump's sons may be called World Liberty, trademark records show

People • August 7, 2024, 12:19PM EDT
Published 1 minute earlier on
UPDATED: August 7, 2024, 12:48PM EDT
The Block Illustration by Zoe Ellyse Del Rosario for The Block

Quick Take

  • Both Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump teased upcoming announcements related to crypto and DeFi.
  • The announcements appear to be potentially linked to trademark filings for the term “World Liberty.”

Two sons of former U.S. President Donald Trump have taken to social media within the past 24 hours to tease an announcement related to the world of crypto and decentralized finance, or DeFi.

"We’re about to shake up the crypto world with something HUGE. Decentralized finance is the future, don’t get left behind," Donald Trump Jr. posted to X early Wednesday, including the hashtag "BeDeFiant."

That tweet followed a Tuesday post made by one of Trump's other sons, Eric Trump. "I have truly fallen in love with crypto/DeFi," he wrote. "Stay tuned for a big announcement."

The only clue about the announcement was an apparent connection to Zach and Steve Witkoff, the latter a real estate baron who's friends with Trump and spoke at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July. Steve Witkoff posted a similar message including the BeDeFiant hashtag a day before Trump Jr. mentioned it. His post was reposted by Zach.

Both Witkoffs follow a crypto entrepreneur called Chase Hero, the managing partner for OnlyFans rival Subify, which boasts YouTuber and crypto investor Logan Paul as a client (who also interviewed Hero on his Impaulsive podcast).

What's notable is that in July, a company called AMG Software Solutions filed trademark applications for the terms "Be DeFiant," "World Liberty" and "World Liberty Financial." This third trademark is for "providing financial information in the field of decentralized finance (DeFi)," according to its filing. The home address for AMG Software Solutions is the same as for Subify LLC.

As such, while it's still not clear what the project is about, it appears that it's linked to Hero and his filings for World Liberty.

Disgraced former pharma executive Martin Shkreli, who in June said he was behind a Trump memecoin, posted Wednesday a claim that the "new Trump project involves" both Steve Witkoff and Zak Folkman, who is listed as a co-founder of Subify.


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About Authors

RT Watson is a senior reporter at The Block who covers a wide array of topics including U.S.-based companies, blockchain gaming and NFTs. Formerly covered entertainment at The Wall Street Journal, where he wrote about Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros. and the creator economy while focusing primarily on technological disruption across media. Previous to that he covered corporate, economic and political news in Brazil while at Bloomberg. RT has interviewed a diverse cast of characters including CEOs, media moguls, top influencers, politicians, blue-collar workers, drug traffickers and convicted criminals. Holds a master's degree in Digital Sociology.
Tim is the Editor-In-Chief of The Block. He writes about the evolution of crypto technology and the people who are at the forefront of it. He provided exclusive, source-based insights into the launches of the Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, crypto sales by the FTX Estate and the Trump-linked World Liberty Financial project. Prior to joining The Block, Tim was a news editor at Decrypt. He earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy from the University of York and studied news journalism at Press Association Training. Follow him on X @Timccopeland.

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