World Liberty Forum Brings Together Business and Political Titans, Key Insights Highlights

BlockBeats News, February 19th. On February 18th, local time in the U.S., the inaugural World Liberty Forum, hosted by the Trump crypto project World Liberty Finance, was held at Mar-a-Lago. This forum not only brought together U.S. financial and crypto industry giants and top regulators: Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, CFTC Chairman Michael Selig, Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman, Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson, NYSE President Lynn Martin.

Sports and cultural figures also attended: such as FIFA President Gianni Infantino, and renowned rapper Nicki Minaj.

As the host, Trump's two sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., appeared as the event's hosts.

BlockBeats summarized the key points of each speaker at the event as follows:

Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon

He shared his first public holding of Bitcoin, albeit a small amount, and stated that he is still a "observer" of Bitcoin, striving to understand its price behavior and volatility. He emphasized the significant importance of cryptocurrency to traditional finance and supported the advancement of regulatory frameworks (such as the Senate-proposed crypto market structure bill). Solomon's appearance marked Wall Street's shift from skeptics to participants. He discussed how the macro environment is conducive to crypto growth by 2026 and hinted that institutions are accelerating their embrace of digital assets.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong

Armstrong stated that the main reason the crypto market structure legislative negotiations are deadlocked is due to the Bankers' Association, not individual banking institutions. Speaking at the World Liberty Forum held in Florida, he pointed out that some industry associations view the crypto industry with a "zero-sum mindset," believing that for banks to win, the crypto industry must lose, thereby hindering the progress of the bill.

One of the current controversies is whether to allow stablecoin rewards. After the Senate Banking Committee's push for the market structure bill was blocked, banking industry representatives, in multiple rounds of meetings organized at the White House, insisted on restricting stablecoin reward provisions. The next round of related meetings is expected to take place later this week.

Armstrong anticipates a possible future compromise to offer banks new policy benefits in exchange for their support of the bill. He also emphasized that small and medium-sized banks are not truly concerned about the flow of funds to stablecoin issuers but rather the flow of deposits to larger banking institutions. Meanwhile, several large banks have started to enter the crypto space, with Coinbase currently providing crypto infrastructure support for the "five of the world's top five banks."

Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman

As the head of Nasdaq, she focuses on the modernization of financial infrastructure and the integration of TradFi with blockchain. She emphasized how exchanges are adapting to tokenized assets, stablecoins, and DeFi trends, supporting regulatory clarity to foster innovation. Her speech reinforced Nasdaq's leadership in the digital asset space, discussing the role of AI in market structure and how to more efficiently integrate crypto opportunities into traditional markets. The overall tone was a positive embrace of change, driving US dominance in the global digital finance arena.

CFTC Chairman Michael Selig

As a regulator, he mainly discussed progress on crypto market structure legislation, the regulatory path forward, and the CFTC's role in overseeing derivatives/futures. He emphasized the need to balance innovation with risk management, avoiding overregulation that could stifle growth. Selig's speech was seen as a policy signal, discussing stablecoin regulation, cross-border impacts, and how to make US rules more friendly. CZ was in attendance and mentioned he "benefited greatly" from his speech.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino

Approaching from a sports/global entertainment perspective, he discussed the application of tokenization in the sports industry, such as fan tokens, NFTs, digital collectibles, and how blockchain is reshaping the fan economy and sponsorships. Infantino emphasized FIFA's interest in Web3 (having previously launched NFT projects) and explored how to combine football's global impact with DeFi/stablecoins to create new revenue streams. His involvement highlighted the forum's cultural/entertainment dimension, symbolizing the penetration of crypto into mainstream industries.

Nicki Minaj

In the "Owning the Culture: The Business of Music in a Creator-Led Economy" fireside chat (in conversation with Trump advisor Alex Bruesewitz), she primarily shared insights on how artists are transitioning into entrepreneurs. She discussed transforming music, IP (intellectual property), royalties, and fan communities into on-chain business, leveraging blockchain for direct monetization, independent control, and a new fan-driven economic model. Minaj emphasized the era of creator-led initiatives, where artists no longer rely on traditional record labels but instead harness their value chain through crypto/DeFi tools. She also expressed support for Trump, overall bringing a pop culture perspective that garnered significant attention.

Donald Trump Jr.

As the co-founder and host of WLFI, former President Donald Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., fiercely criticized the traditional banking system as a "Ponzi scheme," stating that it forced the Trump family into crypto. He heavily promoted the USD1 stablecoin as a "dollar upgrade," emphasizing private-sector-driven innovation, stablecoin demand for US debt, and taxpayer assistance.

Eric Trump

He is very bullish on Bitcoin, predicting it will reach $1 million (based on a historical average annual growth rate of 70%). Eric emphasized that the Trump family's crypto projects are for the "most crypto-friendly president," advocating for regulatory loosening and innovation. He discussed WLFI's RWA strategy (such as tokenizing Trump Maldives Resort loan profits) and reiterated the family's vision: upgrading the dollar, bridging TradFi and blockchain, and positioning the US at the forefront of the global financial revolution.