World Liberty Financial is moving into tokenized real estate finance — and it’s doing so with help from one of the biggest names in digital securities. What happened - World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a company co-founded by Eric Trump, has chosen Securitize to tokenize loan interests tied to the Trump International Hotel & Resort project in the Maldives. The announcement was timed to WLFI’s privately held Mar-a-Lago crypto conference. - Rather than offering direct equity in the resort, WLFI will issue tokens that represent interests in the loan revenue stream. Eligible accredited investors will receive a fixed yield plus payments tied to the loan’s performance. The offering will be conducted under U.S. private placement rules and will include resale restrictions. Who’s involved - Securitize — a leading real-world-asset and digital securities platform — will manage issuance and compliance for the tokens. The firm has previously partnered with major asset managers to put tokenized funds and private-credit products onto public blockchains, and counts investors such as BlackRock and Ark Invest among its backers. Securitize is also pursuing a public listing via a Cantor Fitzgerald-sponsored SPAC (CEPT). - The Maldives resort is being developed by DarGlobal in collaboration with the Trump Organization. When finished, it is expected to feature roughly 100 beach and overwater villas and reach completion around 2030. Why it matters - Tokenization aims to make traditionally illiquid assets more accessible and to streamline ownership records and settlement through blockchain rails. Real estate tokenization, however, remains a relatively small portion of roughly $25 billion in tokenized assets overall. - Industry watchers caution that uneven regulation and thin secondary markets can limit liquidity and raise execution risk — concerns highlighted in a recent EY report. Background and market reaction - WLFI first disclosed plans to tokenize the Maldives resort in November, and Eric Trump had mentioned tokenization plans for new real estate projects on CoinDesk TV in October. - WLFI’s own token has slipped 6.6% over the past 24 hours, trading around $0.1163. Bottom line The deal pairs a politically high-profile project with an established digital-securities operator, underlining continued interest in real-world asset tokenization — but also highlighting the market’s ongoing liquidity and regulatory challenges. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news
