The president’s business empire once known for its hotels and golf courses has aggressively expanded into the world of cryptocurrencies during his first year back in the White House.
Donald Trump, the real estate mogul, reality television star and president, has a new title: cryptocurrency tycoon. A growing share of his net worth is now linked to a corner of the financial markets over which his administration holds considerable sway.
Presidents have historically distanced themselves from their businesses while in office. But over the last year, Trump, his family and business partners have challenged that convention, backing a series of crypto startups and deals. Those crypto ventures have boosted Trump’s assets by roughly $1 billion, according to media reports.
The trading of $TRUMP- and $MELANIA-branded cryptocurrency tokens, or “memecoins,” has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in fees for the president’s family and its partners. Truth Social-parent company Trump Media & Technology Group, which counts Trump as its largest shareholder, said last year it would begin stockpiling crypto tokens. And a Trump-backed crypto venture called World Liberty Financial has been striking deals around the world, while also expanding its footprint in the U.S.
Now, World Liberty could further blur the line between Trump’s businesses and his role as president. The company applied this month to launch a federally regulated bank in the U.S., which would give it more oversight of customers’ assets. It would also put a Trump-linked business under the direct oversight of one of Trump’s regulators.
“It’s a pretty straightforward smash-and-grab while the president has control over economic and regulatory policy,” said Corey Frayer, who worked on crypto policy at the Securities and Exchange Commission during the Biden administration. “A bank is a fundamentally different kind of business that really can only function with the explicit approval of the government.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt denied that Trump or his family “have ever engaged, or will ever engage, in conflicts of interest.” In a statement, she said the “media’s continued attempts to fabricate conflicts of interest are irresponsible and reinforce the public’s distrust in what they read.”Donald Trump promised to make the US the world’s crypto capital. His businesses are seizing on it.
The president’s business empire, once known for its hotels and golf courses, has aggressively expanded into the world of cryptocurrencies during his first year back in the White House.
World Liberty’s application concerns the launch of a national trust bank, which would have direct control over the issuance of the company’s stablecoin, USD1, and the billions of dollars in customer assets that back it. Stablecoins, the main currency of the crypto world, are a type of digital token usually pegged to $1.
World Liberty spokesperson David Wachsman said in a statement the application would subject the company “to more regulation, not less” and “increase transparency and consumer protection.” Trump and his family, he added, have a nonvoting interest in the trust company and won’t control the business’s day-to-day operations. What’s more, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency the federal regulator reviewing the application handed five other crypto companies conditional approval for the same charters in December.
But the bid has run into resistance: Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the powerful Senate Banking Committee, recently urged Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould to not review the World Liberty application until Trump eliminates “all financial conflicts of interest” between himself, his family and the company. Gould declined to take up Warren’s request.
An entity affiliated with Trump and his family members owns about 38 percent of World Liberty’s holding company, according to the company’s website. Trump is also listed as a “co-founder emeritus” while his sons, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Barron Trump, are co-founders. The proposed bank would be led by Zach Witkoff, another World Liberty co-founder and the son of White House envoy Steve Witkoff. Through a spokesperson, the younger Witkoff declined to comment
