Trump-connected World Liberty Financial formally proposes launching on Aave's Ethereum mainnet instance

World Liberty Financial, the DeFi project built and supported by the Trump family and friends, has formally proposed to launch using Aave AAVE -2.45% V3 on Ethereum ETH -3.24% mainnet, according to an announcement on Wednesday.

“We chose @aave because it’s the best-in-class lending & borrowing protocol with top-notch security practices and a strong track record. Partnering with Aave enables us to deliver a reliable platform our users need,” the team wrote on X.

According to its official governance proposal on the Aave forum , WLF’s Aave v3 instance will launch allowing users to borrow or lend ETH and WBTC tokens, as well as USDC and USDT stablecoins. Like Aave, depositors will earn interest from the fees paid by lenders. The team "foresees onboarding assets that may not be compatible with the main market on Ethereum Mainnet, leveraging its ties to traditional finance and institutional investment."

World Liberty Financial will also tap Aave’s reserve factor system to allocate 20% of the protocol's interest to the Aave Ecosystem Reserve. This revenue split will be enabled by using a trustless smart contract.

If the Aave integration is successful, the team plans to expand onto the Scroll Ethereum Layer 2.

During a Sept. 16 livestream, the project confirmed it will sell a non-transferable governance token to accredited investors. The WLFI token will be distributed as follows: 63% will be sold to the public, 17% for user rewards, and 20% for team compensation.

While former President Donald Trump has become a largely welcomed presence in the crypto industry (with notable exceptions), the World Liberty project has drawn side-eyes from many .

That said, others still believe the Trump-connected project could bring eyes to a sector that few Americans know about. Despite there being over $57 billion staked across all DeFi protocols on the three largest chains – Ethereum, Solana and Tron – DeFi is largely bereft of users.

"I am very curious to see how this new instance will evolve and what kind of new user base will be onboarded to Aave," Aave user EzR3aL wrote in the comment section. "Revenue share and token sharing seems fair and signals that a good relationship is important for WLF."

Aave token holders must vote first on a “temp check,” which if passed will open the door to a community feedback period and ultimately a testing period and mainnet launch. The WLF team noted that launching the protocol could “help maintain Aave’s position as a market leader in digital asset borrowing and supply.”