Crypto is not all that are different from politics. According to Rushi Manche, the founder of the blockchain company movement, “Crypto is a game of attention.”
Therefore, it is appropriate that Donald Trump – the Lord of all things attention – is at home that sells memecoins. But not only Trump’s inner circle managed to achieve his crypto adventures, which included the $ Trump Coin and World Liberty Financial.
Sometimes a Vocal Crypto is skepticalThe president has become the largest “leader of the industry’s opinion – or KOL, in the parlance of the blockchain industry: a businessman whose portfolio is closely watched by other investors who decide what to buy and sell.
Trump’s foray in crypto created a new go-to-market playbook for ambitious peddlers to tokens like manche — the foundchain founders realizing the price pumping of a token can be as simple as the elbow In a Crypto portfolio of the President.
The president’s main vehicle for Blockchain Trades is the World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a decentralized finance (DEFI) adventure he has announced to his sons on Tag -Sun. After taking more than $ 400 million by selling a token, the company, who still has no product, has developed a portfolio containing millions of dollars in the ownership of other Crypto projects . On WednesdayIt announced that it was launching an official “strategic reserve” of crypto investments.
Tradings are already raised serious concern Regarding conflicts of interest, dealing with the insider, and the nature of how the influence on the digital asset space influenced. Trump’s political opponents are Calling for investigations In his growing blockchain empire.
But crypto founders like Manche See World Liberty’s Crypto investments as something different: once-to-a-theneration marketing opportunity. “You need to have a product roadmap that makes sense,” Manche said. “But you also have to have a strategy for your token.” And what is the better way to boost your cryptocurrency prices than by the public that it is tied to the free world leader?
Moving transition
Twenty-two-year-old Rushi Manche is set to launch L2 movements, an Ethereum-based blockchain. Despite his youth, he gained a reputation within the industry as a sharp operator, who was that -Secure $ 38 million in Venture funding Immediately after college.
At the front of Donald Trump’s second term, Manche worked to contact his circle. On the eve of the inauguration, he attended the crypto ball, an event that connects the leaders of the crypto industry to the political insider. There, he interacts with major figures such as Zak Folkman and Chase Herro, head of financial independence in the Trump world.
On January 28th, when Repeating the news World Liberty Financial has gained about $ 2 million in movement transfer tokens, Manche has been able to.
Immediately, he brought to social media: “We are proud to be the first Altcoin, first modern Blockchain platform, and first alternative (virtual machine) under the new administration,” he wrote in a X post. “Moving is made in America.”
Then, in media interviews throughout the day, he described WLFI’s purchases as a positive sign for the movement’s trajectory: “This is a good sign that the president of the US DEFI program is the purchase of the transfer, “He told CoinDesk. “It shows a great sign of faith, and a great unity in the motion ecosystem.”
Rumors suddenly began to swing in X that Elon Musk was viewing the movement as a potential infrastructure partner for his department of government efficiency (DOGE).
Manche turned himself away from rumors, saying he had just heard about it when the remaining public did. But he didn’t discourage the speculation, either. “We can’t really talk about it,” he told CoinDesk. “Our papers haven’t hit the DOGE desk yet,” but “we work with various government agencies and institutions.”
The price of moving briefly has climbed by 20% Within a few hours of news.
The World Liberty Financial Play
Manche is far from the single Crypto founder to identify the value of interacting with the Trump Blockchain brand.
Donald Trump announced the World Liberty Financial in mid -October, in the last days of his presidential campaign. The company says it is building a Crypto lending platform that is advancing American values, but it still has a launch of a product. Within days of its formal announcement, however, it began to sell a token, WLFI.
Read more: Within the Trump Crypto project linked to a $ 2m defi hack and former pick-up artist
According to a denial of World Liberty’s websiteDonald Trump holds most of the adventure stake by his company, the DT Marks LLC, and has the right to nearly 75% of the proceeds of the WLFI token. The token provides the holders of a vote in the direction of the final platform. Currently, it is impossible to exchange and restrict sales to non -American and accredited US investors.
Due to these restrictions, WLFI struggling to meet The targets of its fundraising at first. What is the point of buying a cryptocurrency that you can’t sell for an income? Many in the industry – including some of the president’s own supporters –The sale criticized As a cash grab.
But Justin Sun, a founder of the born Chinese crypto, was among the first to reveal how WLFI could still appeal to a very specific type of investor. On November 27th, he bought $ 30 million In the incoming WLFI tokens of the President, making him the biggest investor in the project. The day then lobbed of praise to Trump and wlfi in a series of social media posts.
Now, the sun is probably known for The purchase of a banana that has tapped on a wall For $ 6.2 million, but the US Securities and Exchange Commission – a department under the control of Donald Trump’s White House – he has previously charged fraud and market manipulation. The case continues.
Meanwhile, the President’s Crypto company, has Buy millions of dollars To TRX – the native token of the Tron Blockchain of Sun – and WBTC, a Bitcoin derivative with suspected relationship with the sun. World Liberty din Named day an official counselor.
Blockworks Reported in February. 3 World Liberty Financial is shopping around a deal: If a project buys at least $ 10 million worth of WLFI tokens (with a 10% fee), WLFI will buy an equivalent native amount Project token. Motion and Tron labs refused to make such agreements.
World Liberty’s investment is expected to speed up the establishment of a strategic reserve, but a lawyer for World Liberty Financial, Alex Golubitsky, said he could not comment on whether WLFI’s investment as an official endorsement was of Trump.
The Trump family, however, seems to be aware of its power to move markets. On February 3, shortly after the World Liberty Financial again shared a large portion of its tokens with Ether (ETH), the native token of Ethereum, Eric Trump tweeted, “in my opinion, a great that time to add $ eth.
He quickly edited the tweet, removing the “You can thank me later” line.
The art of bomb
Over the past few months, Rushi Manche has made an integrated effort to attract himself to Trump-World. He attended the Crypto Ball, an industry event on the eve of inauguration that mixed numbers from the administration with the leaders of the crypto industry. He also made a frequent journey to Washington, DC where he was lobbying on behalf of the crypto industry with people like Zak Folkman and Chase Herro – the leaders of the World Liberty Financial.
On February 10, when making a second wlfi purchase, Manche immediately ran into the same playbook that he used a week before.
Within minutes, reporters received a press release from the PR team of movement: the move was “one of the most significant handling of Trump’s portfolio,” the release to read, and Manche was “available to discuss What Trump’s investment means for the project, its role in the development of the blockchain, and the broader implications for the crypto industry.
Manche again brought to social media, reposting a picture of himself and Donald Trump Jr. Next to a screenshot of World Liberty transfer purchases. The picture was shot at an event for Ondo, another project at World Liberty’s Crypto Portfolio.
“(P) Olitics is the most important (go-to-market) playing for crypto companies today,” Manche said in A long x post A few minutes later. “(M) y definition is the next five years will be a breed of space for crypto hegemony – teams that can lock relationships with federal agencies, institutional capital, and world leaders will survive. ”
The post was drawn the heated debate. Some viewed the posting of Manche’s government center as a Shrewd Business move. Other It was condemned As an infidelity of crypto’s anti-establishment ethos-a shortsighted attempt to take advantage of Trump’s fame to pump a token leading a major product launch.
Manche does not agree with the backlash. He compares the approach to the movement of labs in Cardano and Ripple – projects that, despite heavy investigations, maintain a strong position in the market because of their in -depth understanding of how to earn and maintain attention.
“Of course, you have an anon on Twitter calling them scams,” he said. “But see who won.”
He pointed out “Ripple’s XRP Army, whose enthusiasm has maintained the relevant project despite technical critics and regulatory reviews. Ripple’s XRP token has led the price charts for nearly a decade, said by Manche, by developing the “largest cult in the world.”
Similarly, he praised Charles Hoskinson, the outspoken founder of Cardano, for having “mastered the art of attention” and capturing Cardano’s ADA token at the hands of so many investors. Hoskinson “contributed more in space” than both Ethereum developers that remove Cardano as “a broken blockchain,” Manche said.
“If you ask a taxi driver what they are buying, they will tell you the XRP, ADA – even ETH,” Manche said. “That’s what the real person is talking about outside our little bubble.”
As for movement, Manche’s approach is clear: Align to Trump and get attention, for better or for worse. In his words: “You love me, hate me, just don’t forget me.”
