This change was noted in recent days, just as the U.S. Senate was gearing up to pass its legislation to regulate stablecoins, such as the one operated by WLFI.
Stablecoins are enjoying a moment in U.S. policy circles as the Senate just passed a regulation bill with major bipartisan numbers. As that moment approached, President Donald Trump and his family apparently offloaded about 20% of their stake in the parent company controlling World Liberty Financial, a crypto business that includes its own stablecoin.
DT Marks DEFI LLC is a company that now owns about 40% of the holding company over WLFI, down from an earlier 60%, according to the legal disclosures at the bottom of the platform’s website. DT Marks DEFI is “an entity affiliated with Donald J. Trump and certain of his family members,” it says.
Trump’s crypto dealings are extensive and have reportedly directly gained him tens of millions of dollars, at least, but they’ve also taken a starring role in the debate over digital assets regulation in the U.S. The stablecoin bill that is now in the hands of the House of Representatives was temporarily stalled in the Senate as Democrats made noise about Trump’s own stablecoin operation.
Despite corruption complaints from lawmakers such as Senators Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, and arguments that it’s inappropriate for the president to be taking a hand in the regulation of his own business, the advancement of the bill potentially leaves World Liberty Financial’s USD1 stablecoin approaching steadier footing, assuming the company is prepared to comply with rigorous reserve and oversight demands.
While Trump’s political allies and his administration claim his business ties are transparent, the family’s crypto dealings remain murky, without full disclosures of the business stakes of individual members, including the president. It is still unclear what the family’s specific ownership or management involvement may be with World Liberty Financial.
Representatives from WLFI and Trump’s business interests didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment from CoinDesk.
And his growing ties to crypto don’t end there. Trump drew the bulk of recent criticism for his hosting of a private dinner for the leading investors in his personal memecoin, many of whom were foreign nationals and went unidentified to the public. The one-time crypto skeptic has sold multiple rounds of non-fungible tokens (NFTs); his media company announced this year it was raising $2.5 billion to build a bitcoin treasury; and son Eric has been helping run a new bitcoin mining venture. There are few corners of the industry the president doesn’t have close connections to.
