秘密交易，外國投資，總統政策變更：特朗普的加密貨幣公司的興起

在特朗普總統就職典禮前幾天，加密消息傳遞應用程序信號出現了“ Zmoney”的促銷活動。

A few days before President Trump’s inauguration, a promotion for “ZMoney” appeared on the encrypted messaging app Signal.

在特朗普總統就職典禮前幾天，加密消息傳遞應用程序信號出現了“ Zmoney”的促銷活動。

“ZMoney” refers to Zachary Folkman, an entrepreneur who previously ran a dating app company called Date Hotter Girls and currently serves as a representative for WLFI. Zachary Folkman was writing to a cryptocurrency startup in the Cayman Islands proposing a “partnership” in which both parties would buy each other’s digital currency, a deal that would boost the startup’s public profile.

“ Zmoney”是指Zachary Folkman，他是一位企業家，他以前曾經營一家名為Date Hotter Girls的約會應用公司，目前是WLFI的代表。扎卡里·福克曼（Zachary Folkman）在開曼群島（Cayman Islands）的一家加密貨幣創業公司（Cryptocurrency Startup）提出了“合作夥伴關係”，雙方都將購買彼此的數字貨幣，這一協議將提高初創企業的公開個人資料。

But the startup would also secretly pay millions of dollars to the Trump family for the privilege of working with them, as The New York Times discovered.

但是，這家初創公司還將秘密向特朗普家族支付數百萬美元，以便與《紐約時報》所發現的那樣。

“We get a ton of exposure and credibility for everything we do,” Zachary Folkman wrote, adding that other business partners have pledged donations of $10 million to $30 million to the venture, which is majority-owned by Trump family business entities.

扎卡里·福克曼（Zachary Folkman）寫道：“我們為我們所做的一切都獲得了大量的曝光率和信譽，”他補充說，其他商業夥伴已承諾向這家公司捐款1000萬至3000萬美元，這是特朗普家族企業實體的多數股權。

The startup, which was not named, ultimately rejected the proposal as did several other companies that received similar offers from WLFI. They considered the deal unethical and argued that the company was essentially selling traffic generated by its political endorsements and hiding this from the public.

該初創公司未命名，最終拒絕了該提案，就像其他幾家收到WLFI報價類似報價的公司一樣。他們認為這項交易不道德，並認為該公司實際上是在其政治認可產生的交通情況下出售，並向公眾隱藏了這一交易。

Undeterred, WLFI executives, who maintained they had done nothing wrong, successfully marketed similar deals to other companies and sold billions of WLFI tokens to buyers around the world, ultimately generating more than $550 million in sales, a large portion of which will be distributed to the president’s family.

毫無疑問的WLFI高管堅持認為，他們沒有做錯任何事情，成功地向其他公司銷售了類似的交易，並將數十億美元的WLFI代幣賣給了全球的買家，最終產生了超過5.5億美元的銷售額，其中很大一部分將分配給總統的家人。

Trump's return to the White House has opened up new ways for him to profit from his power, whether through his social media companies or new overseas real estate deals. But none of the Trump family’s other business ventures pose a greater conflict of interest than the series of related deals that stemmed from the creation of WLFI.

特朗普返回白宮為他提供了新的方式，無論是通過他的社交媒體公司還是新的海外房地產交易，他都可以從權力中獲利。但是，與源自WLFI的一系列相關協議，特朗普家族的其他商業企業都沒有更大的利益衝突。

Primarily owned by Trump family business entities, WLFI has shattered centuries-old societal norms about the presidency, blurring the lines between private enterprise and government policy in a manner unprecedented in modern American history.

WLFI主要由特朗普家族企業實體擁有，破壞了數百年曆史的社會規範，以使私營企業與政府政策之間的界限模糊，以現代美國歷史上的前所未有的方式。

In addition to being a major cryptocurrency trader, Trump is also the industry’s top policymaker. So far in his second term, Trump has used his presidential might to benefit the cryptocurrency domain. While he has spoken disparagingly of cryptocurrencies for years as a haven for narcotics dealers and swindlers, he has consistently permitted his companies to profit from cryptocurrencies.

除了成為主要的加密貨幣交易者外，特朗普還是該行業的最高決策者。到目前為止，特朗普在第二任期內藉此總統能力使加密貨幣領域受益。儘管他多年來一直在談論加密貨幣作為麻醉品和騙子的避風港，但他一直允許他的公司從加密貨幣中獲利。

The Trump administration has included those sympathetic to the cause, such as appointing a cryptocurrency industry adviser as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Justice Department recently disbanded a cryptocurrency crime task force, continuing a general easing of Biden-era scrutiny of the industry.

特朗普政府包括那些同情這一事業的人，例如任命一個加密貨幣行業顧問為證券交易委員會主席，司法部最近解散了一個加密貨幣犯罪工作組，繼續對拜登時代的審查進行了全面的審查。

A New York Times investigation into the rapid rise of WLFI from startup to international force and Trump's transformation from cryptocurrency skeptic to industry supporter highlighted a host of conflicts of interest at the company:

《紐約時報》對WLFI從創業公司迅速上升到國際部隊的迅速崛起以及特朗普從加密貨幣懷疑論者到行業支持者的轉變強調了該公司的一系列利益衝突：

* WLFI directly benefited from actions by the Trump administration, such as his announcement of a federal cryptocurrency reserve that would include digital currencies in which WLFI invested. The president’s announcement led to a temporary increase in the value of assets held by the company.

* WLFI直接受益於特朗普政府的行動，例如他宣布了聯邦加密貨幣儲備，其中包括WLFI投資的數字貨幣。總統的宣布導致公司持有的資產價值暫時增加。

* WLFI has sold its cryptocurrency to overseas investors, including in Israel and Hong Kong, according to interviews and data obtained by The New York Times, opening a new way for foreign companies to curry favor with Trump.

*根據《紐約時報》獲得的採訪和數據，WLFI已將其加密貨幣賣給了包括以色列和香港在內的海外投資者，為外國公司提供了一種新的方式，可以與特朗普求愛。

* Several investors in the company’s cryptocurrency management company have been accused of wrongdoing by the federal government. They include an executive whose alleged fraud case was suspended after he invested millions of dollars in WLFI. Other investors and business partners are seeking to expand their businesses, which would require approval from the Trump administration.

*聯邦政府指控該公司加密貨幣管理公司的幾位投資者被指控不法行為。其中包括一名高管，其據稱欺詐案在WLFI投資數百萬美元後被暫停。其他投資者和業務夥伴正在尋求擴大業務，這將需要特朗普政府的批准。

Over the course of several months, reporters interviewed more than two dozen people involved in the cryptocurrency industry and examined a vast trove of data, including blockchain transactions and internal company documents. Their investigation revealed that the company, which is named World Liberty Financial and trades under the ticker symbol WLFI, had sold more than 550 million of its tokens since its launch last year.

在幾個月的時間裡，記者採訪了參與加密貨幣行業的二十多名人員，並檢查了大量數據，包括區塊鏈交易和內部公司文件。他們的調查顯示，該公司被稱為世界自由金融，並在股票符號WLFI下進行交易，自去年推出以來，該公司已售出了超過5.5億個令牌。

The company, which is organized as a limited liability corporation, is majority-owned by Trump-affiliated business entities and will receive 75% of the proceeds from the token sale, which can be converted into cash, according to its website.

該公司由特朗普附屬業務實體持有的有限責任公司組織，該公司將獲得代幣銷售的75％的收益，可以將其轉換為現金。

“It’s one of the most successful things we’ve ever done,” Eric Trump, the president’s son who oversees the family business, said in an interview this month at Trump Doral Golf Links in Florida.

負責家族企業的總統兒子埃里克·特朗普（Eric Trump）在本月在佛羅里達州的特朗普多拉爾高爾夫（Doral Golf Links）的採訪中說：“這是我們做過的最成功的事情之一。”

He and his brother, Donald Trump Jr., are actively involved in the company, though they rely on three partners to oversee its day-to-day operations. Two of them, Zachary Folkman and Chase Herro, have checkered pasts in the cryptocurrency space. The other is Zach Witkoff, the son of Steve Witkoff, the U.S. envoy to the Middle East on Trump's team, and one of the founders of WLFI.

他和他的兄弟小唐納德·特朗普（Donald Trump Jr.）積極參與公司，儘管他們依靠三個合作夥伴來監督其日常運營。其中兩個是紮卡里·福克曼（Zachary Folkman）和蔡斯·赫羅（Chase Herro），在加密貨幣空間中曾在過去。另一個是史蒂夫·維科夫（Steve Witkoff）的兒子扎克·維科夫（Zach Witkoff），特朗普團隊中東的美國特使，也是WLFI的創始人之一。

In recent days, Zach, father Steve, and the partners met with Prime Minister Muhammad She

最近幾天，扎克（Zach），史蒂夫（Steve）父親和夥伴會見了穆罕默德（Muhammad）總理