Daily Crypto Briefs 
PALM BEACH, Fla., Feb. 18, 2026
World Liberty Financial, the Trump-linked crypto venture behind the WLFI token, said it will tokenize loan revenue interests tied to Trump International Hotel & Resort, Maldives with Securitize and DarGlobal, as WLFI traded around $0.117 on Feb. 18.
Their plan is to sell a regulated security token that gives verified accredited investors exposure to interest payments and related loan revenue tied to a resort still under development. The company said the offering will use securities exemptions and carry resale restrictions, rather than functioning like a freely transferable retail token.
WLFI token pops on Maldives tokenization headline
Market snapshot: CoinPaprika data showed WLFI up about 8.6% over 24 hours near $0.117, with roughly $255 million in 24 hour volume and a market cap around $2.89 billion. Over the past 30 days, the same dataset showed WLFI down about 26.7%, and it remained about 53% below its earliest tracked print near $0.249 in late August 2025.
The headline lands in a broader real world asset cycle that has been inching from tokenized cash and funds into equities and structured products. Tokenized stocks recently climbed to about $1.5 billion in tracked market value, a sign that more of the market’s plumbing is getting pushed onchain, as we detailed in our tokenized stocks market cap coverage.
World Liberty Financial (WLFI) — price since launch
WLFI
Tokenizing Trump Maldives resort loans: what the deal actually offers
WLFI said it plans to tokenize loan revenue interests in Trump International Hotel & Resort, Maldives, describing the product as a way for eligible accredited investors to access a fixed yield plus loan-linked revenue streams tied to the property, according to a Business Wire release republished by NatLawReview.
Carlos Domingo, Securitize’s chief executive, framed the pitch as a market-infrastructure bet, saying he believes “products issued with compliance, governance, and market structure in mind” will be sought after, according to the same release.
The structure is explicitly not a retail sale. WLFI said the tokens will be offered in a private placement under Rule 506(c), which permits general solicitation but requires verification of accredited investor status, and the company also described an offshore path for non-U.S. persons under Regulation S. The release said the tokens will be subject to significant transfer and resale restrictions and will not be registered under the Securities Act or state securities laws.
The press release said the resort, developed by DarGlobal in collaboration with the Trump Organization, is scheduled for completion in 2030 and is expected to include about 100 beach and overwater villas. It was not immediately clear how large the initial tokenized issuance will be, which public blockchains will be used, or which third-party partners and wallets will provide access beyond broad references to supported rails.
The Maldives project itself has already shifted in public descriptions. A November 2025 release distributed via PRNewswire described an 80 villa plan and said the resort is expected to open by the end of 2028, while WLFI’s Feb. 18 statement pointed to a roughly 100 villa build and a 2030 completion target. The companies did not immediately explain whether that reflects a redesign, separate phases, or a change in schedule.
Market structure optics intensify as Trump pushes crypto bill
The WLFI release included a disclosure that will be hard for Washington to ignore. It said DT Marks Defi LLC, “an entity affiliated with Donald J. Trump and certain of his family members,” has an indirect economic interest through about 38% beneficial ownership of an affiliate of WLF DAR Maldives Limited that is entitled to earn a portion of the proceeds from the token issuance. In the same disclaimer, the release said the Trump Organization and its principals and affiliates “are not the issuers, sponsors, promoters, or sellers” of the tokens.
That matters because the policy backdrop is not stable. Trump has been publicly pushing Congress to finish a U.S. crypto market structure bill, even as negotiations remain tangled over stablecoin rewards and regulatory lines, a dynamic we tracked in our market structure bill update. Bills like H.R. 3633, the CLARITY Act, are designed to define which regulator oversees what in crypto, and that framework can influence how tokenized securities products are issued, distributed, and traded.
For retail traders, the anger is straightforward. WLFI’s branding has leaned on “opening up” finance, but the Maldives yield product is gated behind accredited-investor checks, while the publicly traded WLFI token is what retail can actually buy and sell. The gap between who gets access to the structured yield and who gets exposure to the narrative risk is one reason critics see these deals as a one-way street.
The optics also sit on top of a growing Trump-linked crypto footprint. World Liberty has already been tied to foreign-capital questions in a reported UAE stake deal.
The broader Trump ecosystem has also leaned into token distribution mechanics through the DJT shareholder token plan.
For readers trying to map the rules, our 2026 regulation explainer breaks down the SEC and CFTC split, stablecoin rules, and tax reporting in plain English.
The next catalysts are practical and document-driven. Watch for offering materials that specify the token economics and waterfall, custody and transfer restrictions, onchain settlement rails, and any disclosures clarifying how affiliated entities are compensated, alongside the Senate calendar for market structure as new draft text and markup dates emerge.
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Primary sources and further reading
Fact-checked by: Daily Crypto Briefs Fact-Check Desk
Frequently Asked Questions
What did World Liberty Financial announce about the Trump Maldives resort?
WLFI said it plans to tokenize loan revenue interests tied to Trump International Hotel & Resort, Maldives, offering verified accredited investors exposure to interest payments and related revenue streams under a private placement structure.
Is this offering available to retail investors?
No. WLFI said the tokens will be sold in a Rule 506(c) private placement to verified accredited investors, or to non-U.S. persons under Regulation S, with significant transfer and resale restrictions.
Is the WLFI token the same thing as the Maldives resort security tokens?
Not necessarily. WLFI is the project’s crypto token that trades on the market, while the announcement describes a separate regulated security token offering tied to loan revenue interests.
Why does Rule 506(c) matter?
Rule 506(c) is a U.S. securities exemption that allows general solicitation but requires the issuer to verify accredited investor status, which typically limits access to wealthier investors and institutions.
What should readers watch next?
Watch for offering documents that spell out token terms, fees, transfer restrictions, and settlement rails, plus any updated disclosures about affiliated-party economics as U.S. crypto market structure legislation advances.