The trading debut of $WLFI, a token linked to a cryptocurrency venture affiliated with U.S. President Donald Trump’s sons, has cast a spotlight on the family’s growing footprint in the space.
Cryptocurrency has become a recurring theme in the family’s business empire, even as critics have flagged potential conflicts of interest given Trump’s pledge to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the planet.”
The White House, however, has denied any wrongdoing. All of Trump’s multi-billion-dollar real estate, golf, media and other business interests are in a trust managed by his children.
The president is exempted from conflict of interest laws because he oversees too many areas to make enforcement practical, according to ethics experts. The system relies on a president’s good-faith effort to separate his personal interests from the country’s when he takes office.
Here is a rundown of the Trump family’s main forays into the cryptocurrency industry:
TRUMP MEDIA
Truth Social-owner Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT-Q) said in May it had raised US$2.5-billion through a sale of shares and bonds to buy bitcoin, which CEO Devin Nunes said is the “apex instrument of financial freedom.”
The company plans to hold bitcoin as assets on its balance sheet, following a playbook long popularized by Michael Saylor’s Strategy.
About 41 per cent of the stake in Trump Media is held in a trust under the name of Donald Jr., the president’s son, according to a filing by the company. As of Friday’s close, the stake was worth US$2-billion.
TRUMP MEDIA GROUP CRO STRATEGY
Trump Media and Crypto.com have partnered with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) to launch a new venture called Trump Media Group CRO Strategy that will accumulate the crypto platform’s native token, CRO, on its balance sheet.
Expected funding for the new company will comprise 6.3 billion CRO tokens, US$200-million of cash, US$220-million of warrants and a US$5-billion equity line of credit from an affiliate of investment firm Yorkville, the SPAC’s backer
Yorkville, Trump Media and Crypto.com will be the majority owners of the company, they said.
CRO’s market value was US$8.7-billion as of Wednesday, according to CoinGecko.
WORLD LIBERTY FINANCIAL
DT Marks DEFI LLC, an entity tied to the Trump family, holds nearly 38 per cent of equity in the company that controls World Liberty Financial and is entitled to receive the lion’s share of its revenues, according to the company’s website.
It also holds 22.5 billion $WLFI tokens, created by World Liberty, which have tumbled 21 per cent since they started trading on Monday. The token was last valued at US$6.7-billion on Wednesday, according to CoinGecko.
Under an agreement, the Trump-tied entity is entitled to 75 per cent of the money raised from $WLFI sales, after covering agreed reserves and expenses.
The Trump family has made around US$500-million from World Liberty since the platform was launched, according to Reuters calculations based on the company’s terms and conditions, transactions traced by crypto analysis firms and publicly-disclosed deals.
World Liberty, which bills itself as a decentralized finance platform, lists the president’s sons, Eric, Donald Jr. and Barron, as co-founders on its website.
It also issues a dollar-backed stablecoin, called USD1, which has a market value of US$2.5-billion, according to data from CoinGecko.
MEMECOINS
In the run-up to his inauguration in January, Trump and First Lady Melania Trump launched memecoins $TRUMP and $MELANIA, igniting a buying frenzy while also attracting sharp criticism.
Memecoins, whose value is dictated by internet buzz or cultural relevance rather than technological utility or fundamentals, are highly volatile tokens that can offer outsized returns but also carry high risks.
The market values of $TRUMP and $MELANIA memecoins have since slumped to US$1.7-billion and US$144-million, respectively, according to CoinGecko, from US$9-billion and US$1.6-billion shortly after launch.
The top 220 holders of Trump’s memecoin were invited to an exclusive dinner with the president at his private country club in May.
NFTs
Trump entered the speculative NFT space in 2022, launching ventures, including collectible digital trading cards and branded merchandise.
In June this year, Trump listed US$1.16-million in income from his NFTs, digital trading cards in his likeness, while First Lady Melania Trump earned around $216,700 from license fees on her own NFT collection.
AMERICAN BITCOIN
American Bitcoin, a new bitcoin miner backed by Trump’s two sons is expected to list on the Nasdaq this month following an all-stock merger with Gryphon Digital Mining.
Eric, his brother Donald Trump Jr and crypto miner Hut 8 (HUT-T) will own a combined 98 per cent of the newly formed entity.
Launched by Hut 8 in March 2025, American Bitcoin has vowed to become “the world’s largest, most efficient pure-play bitcoin miner.”
CRYPTO ETFs
Trump Media has partnered with Yorkville on plans to launch at least three exchange-traded funds — one tracking bitcoin, another mixing bitcoin and ethereum and a third covering bitcoin, ether, Solana, XRP and CRO.
DOMINARI HOLDINGS
Eric and Donald Jr. hold a nearly 6.3-per-cent stake each in crypto treasury vehicle Dominari Holdings, according to data from LSEG. As of Thursday’s close, their shares were worth US$6-million each.
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