Crypto is not so different from politics. According to Rushi Manche, the founder of Blockchain Company Movement, “Crypto is a game of attention”.
It is therefore appropriate that Donald Trump – the master of all attention – is so at home to sell mecoins. But it was not only the inner circle of Trump that managed to capitalize on his cryptographic companies, which include the play in Trump $ Trump and the World Liberty Financial.
Formerly a skeptical vocal crypto, the president has become the largest “key opinion leader” in industry – or Kol, in the language of the blockchain industry: a merchant whose portfolio is closely monitored by D ‘Other investors deciding what to buy and sell.
Trump’s foray into the crypto has created a new marketing game for ambitious tokens like handle – the founders of the blockchain who realize that the price of a token can be as simple as to sink In the crypto portfolio of an exercise president.
The president’s main vehicle for the blockchain trades is World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a decentralized financing company (DEFI) which he announced with his sons during the summer. After having accumulated more than $ 400 million by selling a token, the company, which has not yet had a product, built a portfolio containing millions of dollars in the assets of other cryptographic projects. On Wednesday, he announced that he was launching an official “strategic reserve” of cryptographic investment.
The professions have already raised serious concerns concerning conflicts of interest, initiate traffic and the very nature of the way in which influence is exploited in the space of digital assets. Trump’s political opponents are calling for investigations on his growing blockchain empire.
But the founders of Crypto as Manche see the investments of crypto of World Liberty as something different: a marketing opportunity once in a generation. “You must have a product roadmap that makes sense,” said Manche. “But you must also have a strategy for your token.” And what better way to increase the price of your cryptocurrency than to publicly attach it to the leader of the free world?
Mobile movement
Rushi Manche, twenty-two years old, should launch the L2 movement, a blockchain based in Ethereum. Despite his youth, he acquired a reputation within the industry as a sharp operator, after having obtained more than $ 38 million in corporate financing immediately after the college.
Before Donald Trump’s second term, Manche worked to forge links with his circle. On the eve of the inauguration, he attended the Crypto Ball, an event connecting the leaders of the cryptographic industry with political initiates. There, he signed up with key characters like Zak Folkman and Chase Herro, the leaders of the freedom of the world of Trump.
On January 28, when the news announced that World Liberty Financial had acquired about $ 2 million in the Tokens movement movement, Manche jumped.
Immediately, he went to social networks: “We are proud to be the first Altcoin, the first platform of modern blockchain and the first alternative [virtual machine] Under the new administration, “he wrote in a post.” Move is made in America. “”
Then, in the interviews with the media throughout the day, he described the purchases of the WLFI as a positive sign for the trajectory of the movement: “It is a good sign that the president of the US DEFI program buys A move, “he told Coindesk. “It shows a good sign of faith and a good solidarity with the ecosystem of the movement.”
Rumors suddenly began to swirl on X according to which Elon Musk envisaged movement as a potential infrastructure partner for his government ministry (DOGE).
Manche has moved away from the rumor, saying that he had heard of it until the rest of the public did. But he did not discourage speculation either. “We can’t really talk about it,” he told Coindesk. “Our papers have never struck the Doge Desk”, but “we work with a variety of agencies and government institutions”.
The moving price has briefly increased by 20% in the hours following the news.
The Liberty World Financial Game
Manche is far from being the only founder of Crypto to recognize the value of associating with the Trump Blockchain brand.
Donald Trump announced World Liberty Financial in mid-October, during the last days of his presidential campaign. The company says it builds a crypto loan platform that advances American values, but it has not yet launched a product. A few days after his official announcement, however, he started to sell a token, WLFI.
Read more: Inside The Trump Crypto Project linked to a DEFI hack and the former collection artist of $ 2 million
According to a non-liability clause on the World Liberty website, Donald Trump holds a majority participation in the company through his company, DT Marks LLC, and is entitled to around 75% of WLFI tokens sales products . The token offers holders a vote on the management of the possible platform. Currently, it is impossible to negotiate and has restricted sales to non-Americans and American investors accredited only.
Due to these restrictions, the WLFI found it difficult to achieve its fundraising objectives. What is the point of buying a cryptocurrency that you cannot sell for a profit? Many in industry – including some of the president’s own supporters – have criticized the sale as cash seizure.
But Justin Sun, a Crypto founder of Chinese origin, was among the first to reveal how WLFI could still call on a very specific type of investor. On November 27, he bought $ 30 million in the incoming president’s WLFI tokens, which made him the biggest investor of the project. Sun then praised Trump and the WLFI in a series of publications on social networks.
Today, Sun is perhaps best known for buying a banana stuck on a wall for $ 6.2 million, but the American Securities and Exchange commission – a department under the control of the White House of Donald Trump – The previously accused of fraud and market manipulation. The case is underway.
The president’s crypto company, on the other hand, bought millions of dollars in TRX – the native token of Sun Blockchain Tron – and WBTC, a Bitcoin derivative with alleged links with Sun. World Liberty also appointed Sun an official advisor.
BlockWorks reported on February 3 that World Liberty Financial was shopping: if a project buys at least $ 10 million from WLFI tokens (with 10%fees), the WLFI will buy an equivalent amount of the project native token. Movers and Tron laboratories have denied having concluded such agreements.
The investments of World Liberty should accelerate with the creation of a strategic reserve, but a lawyer of World Liberty Financial, Alex Golubitsky, said that he could not say if WLFI investments were counting as an official approval from Trump.
The Trump family, however, seems to be aware of their power to move the markets. On February 3, shortly after World Liberty Financial has reassured a large part of his ether tokens (ETH), the native token of Ethereum, Eric Trump tweeted: “In my opinion, this is the ideal time for Add $ ETH.
He quickly edited the tweet, deleting the line “You can thank me later”.
The art of pump
In recent months, Rushi Manche has made a concerted effort to get into Trump’s world. He attended the Crypto Ball, an industry event on the eve of the inauguration which mixed figures from the administration with leaders of the cryptographic industry. He also made frequent trips to Washington, DC where he put pressure on behalf of the cryptography industry with people like Zak Folkman and Chase Herro – The leaders of World Liberty Financial.
On February 10, when WLFI made a second cycle of moving purchases, Manche immediately raised the same game book he had used a week earlier.
In a few minutes, journalists received a press release from the Movement Public Relations team: Move was now “one of the most important participations in the Trump portfolio”, the read press release, and Manche was “available for Discussing what Trump’s investment means for the project, his role in advancing blockchain and broader implications for the cryptographic industry.
Manche has once again brought on social networks, republishing a photo of himself and Donald Trump Jr. alongside a screenshot of the WORLD Liberty moving. The photo was taken during an event for Ondo, another project in the crypto portfolio of World Liberty.
“”[P]Olitics is the most important [go-to-market] Play for crypto companies today, “said Manche in a long post X a few minutes later.”[M]The meaning is that the next five years will be a space race for cryptographic hegemony – teams that can enclose relations with federal agencies, institutional capital and world leaders are those who survive. “”
The position attracted a heated debate. Some considered the posture centered on the Channel government as a clever commercial decision. Others condemned him as a betrayal of the anti -state -state philosophy of crypto – a short -sighted attempt to exploit Trump’s reputation to pump a token before a major product launch.
Handle is imperturbable by the backlash. He compares the Movement Labs approach to that of Cardano and Ripple – projects which, despite a meticulous examination, maintained solid market positions because of their in -depth understanding of how to win and keep attention.
“Of course, you have anons on Twitter who calls them scams,” he said. “But look who wins.”
He underlined “the XRP army” of Ripple, whose fervor maintained the relevant project despite technical criticism and the regulatory examination. The XRP token of Ripple has exceeded prices list for almost a decade, said Manche, building “the greatest cult in the world”.
Similarly, he congratulated Charles Hoskinson, the Frequent Franc of Cardano, to have “controlled the art of attention” and to obtain the Ada of Cardano token in the hands of so many investors. Hoskinson “contributed more to space” than the same developers of Ethereum who reject Cardano as “a broken blockchain”, said Manche.
“If you ask a taxi driver what they buy, he will tell you XRP, ADA – not even ETH,” said Manche. “This is what real people talk outside our little bubble.”
As for the movement, the handle strategy is clear: align with Trump and attract attention, for better or for worse. In his words: “Love me, hate me, don’t forget me.”
