While most former presidents content themselves with libraries and speaking circuits, Donald Trump has embraced a rather different post-presidency venture: transforming his family name into a cryptocurrency empire worth billions.
The Trump family’s crypto ambitions center on World Liberty Financial, which aims to raise approximately $1.5 billion from investors while creating a public company to hold WLFI tokens. Trump, designated as “co-founder emeritus,” has explicitly linked the family brand to this digital asset venture—a move that has reportedly generated hundreds of millions in revenue since the 2024 election.
The crown jewel of this enterprise remains the $TRUMP meme coin, launched on Solana’s blockchain in January 2025. With one billion coins issued and 800 million retained by Trump-owned entities, the token achieved a staggering $27 billion market capitalization within days, valuing the family’s holdings at over $20 billion.
By March 2025, sales and fees had generated at least $350 million—impressive returns for what regulatory bodies classify as a non-security, though the CFTC maintains commodity jurisdiction citing fraud concerns.
Regulatory agencies grapple with classifying Trump’s $350 million crypto venture amid ongoing fraud investigations and jurisdictional disputes.
The venture’s scope extends beyond meme coins, encompassing plans for a crypto-lending application and USD1, a dollar-backed stablecoin. World Liberty Financial is actively courting major technology and cryptocurrency investors, with the originally non-transferable governance token WLFI planned for open-market trading to enhance liquidity. The family is also expanding their crypto sector presence with a mining project and ETF plans. The lending component would operate through smart contracts that eliminate traditional intermediaries, allowing users to lend and borrow cryptocurrency assets directly.
Trump’s presidential role adds complexity through his March 2025 executive order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and United States Digital Asset Stockpile. The proposed holdings—Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP, and Cardano—mirror assets in which White House officials reportedly hold between $875,000 and $2.35 million, raising inevitable conflict-of-interest questions. The federal government already holds Bitcoin and digital assets acquired through civil and criminal asset forfeiture operations.
This convergence of presidential authority and personal financial interest creates an unprecedented scenario where government endorsement could legitimize previously volatile digital assets. Whether this represents visionary leadership or problematic self-dealing depends largely on one’s perspective regarding the appropriate boundaries between public service and private enrichment in the cryptocurrency age.
