++Trump's newest grift: Building a cryptocurrency empire while destroying its regulators++

Against the backdrop of Trump's return to power, the cryptocurrency industry is experiencing unprecedented regulatory loosening. Seizing this opportunity, the Trump family is rapidly laying out related industries, creating a cryptocurrency empire worth billions, encompassing platform construction, token issuance, infrastructure control, and even market manipulation

Original Title: Trump’s Newest Grift: Building A Cryptocurrency Empire While Destroying Its Regulators

Original Author: Molly White

Translation: Daisy, ChainCatcher

Against the backdrop of Trump's return to power, the cryptocurrency industry has experienced unprecedented regulatory loosening. Seizing this opportunity, the Trump family is rapidly laying out related industries, creating a cryptocurrency empire worth billions, encompassing platform construction, token issuance, infrastructure control, and even market manipulation, with power and capital closely intertwined.

This process not only brings enormous profits but also raises serious questions about conflicts of interest and abuse of power. From platform holdings to policy interventions, from meme coin speculation to potential insider trading, the Trump family is transforming the national regulatory system into a tool for their own profit.

This article will outline the operational path of the family's cryptocurrency business, revealing how they profit in a regulatory vacuum, and explore the systemic risks triggered by this "expansion of the cryptocurrency empire."

Financial Backers Inject Capital, Rules Loosen: How Cryptocurrency Capital Quickly Opens Political and Business Channels

After Trump regained power, he quickly received at least $20 million in political donations from cryptocurrency industry backers. Among them, Ripple and Andreessen Horowitz each contributed $5 million, while giants like Coinbase, Gemini, Kraken, and Circle provided millions in support.

These backers soon received policy returns: at least eight enforcement cases by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against cryptocurrency companies were withdrawn or postponed. Many companies were also included in the new regulatory framework, seizing the opportunity to tailor market rules for themselves in an environment lacking regulation, with low compliance requirements and weak consumer protection.

The loosening of policies not only allowed donating companies to reap substantial profits but also cleared institutional barriers for the Trump family's cryptocurrency expansion, laying the groundwork for the entire business operation.

Source: Follow the Crypto

World Liberty Financial: The Core Asset of Trump's Cryptocurrency Empire

In August 2024, Trump and his partners founded the cryptocurrency company World Liberty Financial. The project's co-founder, Zach Witkoff, is the son of Steven Witkoff, a long-time ally of Trump's, who currently serves as a special representative for Middle Eastern affairs and was recently appointed as Trump's personal envoy for his visit to Putin, playing a key role in facilitating the project's connections.

Although the platform's promotion and positioning revolve almost entirely around Trump himself, with the official website listing his son as a "DeFi visionary" and "Web3 ambassador," promising that 75% of the protocol's profits would belong to him, the family initially tried to create a "keep distance" posture. It wasn't until Trump took office again that he officially held 60% of the shares, becoming the actual controller.

Source: World Liberty Financial Homepage

Despite not having launched any trading platform, World Liberty has raised as much as $550 million, and based on the profit-sharing ratio, Trump is expected to personally profit nearly $400 million. The company claims it will create a "financial democratization" platform and issue a stablecoin USD1, which sharply contrasts with Trump's past stance of labeling stablecoins as "government-controlled financial tools."

Notably, $75 million of the project comes from Sun Yuchen—a foreign cryptocurrency entrepreneur under investigation by the SEC and the Department of Justice for fraud, who cannot donate directly to Trump. Subsequently, Sun was appointed as an advisor to World Liberty, and after Trump took office, the SEC's lawsuit against him was shelved.

The $WLFI token issued by World Liberty is defined as a "governance token," theoretically granting holders voting rights, but the platform team unilaterally advanced significant matters, including the issuance of stablecoins, without any votes. The token also includes several clauses to evade regulation, limiting purchases to non-U.S. citizens or "qualified investors," and is currently not tradable. Some investors bet that once SEC regulations are further weakened, these restrictions will be lifted, allowing the token to enter the secondary market for returns.

Meanwhile, the project has faced widespread scrutiny for suspected insider trading. Media reports revealed that World Liberty acquired tokens from Movement Labs for about $2 million, coinciding with rumors that the latter was negotiating blockchain cooperation with the "Department of Government Efficiency" led by Musk. Both parties denied the allegations, but the market reacted strongly.

On April 8, 2025, a memorandum released by Deputy Attorney General Todd Branch indicated that the Department of Justice officially disbanded the cryptocurrency investigation task force based on an executive order signed by Trump, terminating all related enforcement actions. This move almost severed the federal investigation path into the Trump family's cryptocurrency business.

The timing of the USD1 announcement also drew attention: on March 25, World Liberty announced it would issue the stablecoin, and just ten days later, the SEC stated that "certain types" of stablecoins are