Trump family profits from launch of World Liberty Financial crypto token
The Trump family secured a roughly $5 billion windfall on Monday as trading of a digital token belonging to its primary cryptocurrency venture, World Liberty Financial, opened.
That figure is based on public disclosures that report "certain family members of Donald J. Trump [hold] 22.5 billion $WLFI tokens."
On Tuesday morning, the value of $WLFI hovered around 23 cents, leaving the Trump family with a stake of approximately $5 billion. Cryptocurrencies are notoriously volatile assets, and as the value of the token fluctuates, so will the value of Trump family's stake.
World Liberty Financial said earlier Monday in a statement that tokens belonging to the founding "Team" were locked and therefore unable to be sold pending a "vesting schedule TBD," meaning the Trump family's $5 billion position exists only on paper for the time being.
The Trump family helped launch World Liberty Financial last year during the height of the 2024 presidential campaign. A corporate entity owned by the Trump family controls a 60% stake in the company, according to the firm's website, where Trump was once listed as the firm's "Chief Crypto Advocate."
Trump is now listed on the website as "Co-Founder Emeritus" with a footnote that says, "Removed upon taking office."
Earlier this summer, investors in World Liberty voted to make the coin tradeable, and on Monday, the company allowed coin owners to begin selling their stakes -- up to 20%, according to the company.
Before settling at around 23 cents, shares of the token spiked early on Monday with its value peaking at roughly 40 cents before the shares' value tapered off, according to Binance.
The White House has repeatedly denied critics' claims that Trump's role in his family's emerging cryptocurrency empire while overseeing crypto industry regulations poses any conflicts of interest or ethical concerns.
