Trump-Linked World Liberty to Tokenize Maldives Resort in Partnership with Securitize
World Liberty Financial has unveiled plans to tokenize loan interests tied to the Trump International Hotel & Resort in the Maldives, naming Securitize as the issuance and compliance partner. The move — announced during the company’s Mar-A-Lago crypto event — frames tokenized real estate as an alternative play while WLFI’s native token has shown recent weakness.
Deal mechanics: loan-backed tokens, accredited buyers, compliance handled by Securitize
The offering will not grant direct equity in the Maldives property. Instead, investors will purchase digital tokens that represent interests in a development loan tied to the project, with payments and yields linked to the loan’s performance. Eligible accredited investors are set to receive a fixed yield and ongoing payments derived from loan revenue, and resale will be constrained under U. S. private placement rules.
Securitize will oversee token issuance and compliance processes, handling on-chain representation of the loan interests and the regulatory plumbing for the sale. The partnership positions a specialist in digital securities as the operational backbone for the product; Securitize has previously worked on tokenized funds and private credit structures, and the firm will manage KYC/AML, investor onboarding, and the lifecycle of the digital securities tied to the loan.
The tokenized instrument targets a narrower slice of the real-world-asset market: rather than fractional property ownership, buyers will gain exposure to loan cashflows. World Liberty Financial said the sale will be executed under private-placement exemptions with restricted secondary trading, signaling limited liquidity for token holders at launch.
Project background and market context
The Maldives development is being built by a developer in collaboration with the Trump Organization and is expected to include roughly 100 beach and overwater villas. Developer timelines point to a completion horizon around 2030 for the resort. World Liberty Financial first flagged plans to tokenize the Maldives project late last year and reiterated the initiative at its Mar-A-Lago gathering.
The announcement comes as WLFI’s native token has softened in market trading; the token was down 6. 6% in the most recent 24-hour window, trading near 11. 63 cents. The token’s decline underscores a broader squeeze in crypto sentiment that has driven some firms to shift focus toward tokenizing traditional real assets such as real estate and private credit.
Proponents argue that using blockchain rails for real estate-related debt can streamline recordkeeping and settlement and broaden investor access to development finance. Critics point to regulatory uncertainty, constrained resale markets, and the relatively small size of tokenized real estate within the broader tokenized-assets universe as key risks to adoption and secondary liquidity.
World Liberty Financial’s leadership framed the move as part of a strategy to extend decentralized finance constructs into tangible assets. By structuring exposure as loan revenue tokens and partnering with a compliance-focused issuance platform, the company aims to marry traditional private-credit structures with blockchain-based ownership records.
Investors considering the offering should weigh the fixed-yield structure and restricted resale mechanics against project execution risks and long completion timelines. With the resort’s delivery targeted years out and payments tied to the performance of a development loan, holders will carry exposure to construction, market demand in luxury tourism, and the broader health of token markets that can affect perceived value and trading depth.
The token sale represents a notable example of a firm tied to high-profile brand licensing pursuing real-world asset tokenization as crypto market momentum softens, while relying on established digital-securities infrastructure to manage regulatory and operational complexity.
