A governance vote that moved this week has left many WLFI holders upset. Some feel they were shut out while a small group pushed the plan through. The divide is loud online and on chain. Locked Tokens Leave Many Without A Voice Reports say about 80% of WLFI tokens sold to investors remain locked, which meant most holders could not take part in the vote over the treasury move. That gap in voting access has become the focus of criticism. People who bought early and still cannot trade their tokens say it is unfair for the project to spend community assets without broad participation. Social posts and forum threads show growing calls for a clear unlock plan and more transparent rules on governance. Concentrated Votes From Few Wallets Data pulled from the vote and coverage indicate that a small number of addresses carried much of the weight in the decision. Reports note the top nine wallets controlled nearly 60% of the voting power, and one large address alone held a significant share. The governance proposal to use a portion of the unlocked treasury to incentivize USD1 adoption has passed with 77.75% of the vote in favor. This happened because the community showed up, evaluated the proposal, and made a clear decision about the direction of the WLFI ecosystem.… — WLFI (@worldlibertyfi) January 4, 2026 At the same time, the official vote tally posted by the project showed the proposal passed with strong support among those who could vote. According to a public update, around 77.75% of cast votes were in favor. That result has done little to calm critics who point to the locked-token issue as the root cause of the dispute. What The Proposal Would Use The Funds For The plan approved allows use of a slice of the unlocked WLFI treasury to support USD1, the project’s stablecoin. The proposal language and the project’s governance page say the allocation would not exceed 5% of unlocked treasury holdings. Supporters argue these incentives and partnerships could help USD1 gain more use and push activity across the network. Opponents worry about spending before solving token access and governance fairness. Some also point to past price swings after partial unlocks as a reason to slow down spending from the treasury. Haven’t seen anyone else talk about this yet, so I wanted to bring up an alarming governance vote by World Liberty Fi this month that appears to be the start of a slow extraction of value from WLFI holders by the team: What you see above appears to be a rigged vote, where the… pic.twitter.com/CGsj7vVUUk — DeFi^2 (@DefiSquared) January 20, 2026 Pressure On Leadership And Next Steps The controversy has put pressure on the team to respond. Calls for a clear timetable for unlocking the remaining tokens are widespread. There are also requests for a review of voting rules so that major economic decisions have broader buy-in from holders who are affected by the outcomes. Trump Family Connection To WLFI US President Donald Trump and members of his family have previously been linked to WLFI through investment and advisory roles. Reports note that their involvement has drawn additional media attention to the project, with some observers questioning whether high-profile ties influence governance decisions and treasury allocations. Their connection adds another layer of scrutiny as the controversy over locked tokens and concentrated voting continues. Featured image from Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times, chart from TradingView
