Trump-linked World Liberty taps BlackRock-backed Securitize for hotel tokenization

World Liberty Financial is tapping real-world asset specialist Securitize to help tokenize loan interests tied to the Trump International Hotel and Resort in the Maldives.

Rather than direct equity in the properties, investors will be able to buy tokens tied to loan revenue, according to a Wednesday announcement timed for the privately held company's Mar-A-Lago crypto conference.

World Liberty Financial is turning to one of the largest companies in digital securities. Securitize has worked with major asset managers such as BlackRock, Hamilton Lane and Apollo Global Markets to issue tokenized funds and private credit on public blockchains. BlackRock and Cathie Wood's Ark Invest are also investors in the firm, which plans to go public by merging with a Cantor Fitzgerald-sponsored special-purpose acquisition company (CEPT).

"We built World Liberty Financial to open up decentralized finance to the world," said Eric Trump, a co-founder of the company. "With today’s announcement, we are now extending that access to tokenized real estate."

Eligible accredited investors will receive a fixed yield and payments linked to the loan’s performance. The sale will take place under U.S. private placement rules, with restrictions on resale.

Plans to tokenize the Maldives resort were unveiled in November. The resort, developed by DarGlobal in collaboration with the Trump Organization, is expected to include about 100 beach and overwater villas and reach completion in 2030. In October, Eric Trump said on CoinDesk TV that $WLFI planned to tokenize a new real estate project.

The latest announcement focuses on who will handle the mechanics. Securitize will oversee issuance and compliance for tokens representing interests in a development loan connected to the project.

While tokenization of traditional assets like stocks and funds has gained the attention of Wall Street firms, real estate represents a smaller slice of the $25 billion tokenized asset market. Proponents argue that blockchain rails can streamline property ownership records and settlement, but uneven regulation and thin secondary trading pose a risk, an EY report noted last year.

The company's $WLFI token has dropped 6.6% in the past 24 hours to 11.63 cents.