President Donald Trump and his family are generating billions from cryptocurrency, according to a new report from State Democracy Defenders Action.
The nonprofit organization, which claims to be “fighting autocracy,” estimates that nearly 40% of Trump’s net worth now comes from digital assets, totaling around $2.9 billion.
That crypto windfall stems from Trump’s personal memecoins, Official Trump (TRUMP) and Melania (MELANIA), and a sizable stake in World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a Trump-affiliated crypto exchange launched in 2024.
While the group behind the study describes itself as nonpartisan, it’s led by longtime critics of the president. Still, the numbers are eye-popping.
Trump’s crypto portfolio could soon swell even more. World Liberty Financial announced this week that MGX, a firm backed by Abu Dhabi, plans to invest $2 billion into the Trump-linked exchange by purchasing its new stablecoin, USD1.
At Token2049 on May 1, World Liberty Financial co-founder Zach Witkoff confirmed that USD1 has been selected as the official stablecoin for MGX’s investment into Binance.
Proximity to Trump matters
World Liberty’s website reveals just how close the Trumps are to the operation: a family-affiliated entity owns a 60% stake and holds 22.5 billion $WLF tokens.
But it’s not solely a family matter. Trump’s White House Crypto Czar, David Sacks, is poised to profit from the USD1 stablecoin’s custodial deal with BitGo — a company in which he still holds a stake.
Sacks, per the State Democracy Defenders Action, was allowed to keep his BitGo ownership thanks to a March 5 conflict-of-interest waiver from the White House Counsel. He’s not alone: Trump’s Middle East Envoy, Steven Witkoff, is also listed as a co-founder of WLFI, alongside the president’s two sons, though the details of their financial involvement remain unclear.
Also in the mix is Justin Sun, one of the top entrepreneurs in the crypto sector, who first purchased $30 million in $WLFI just weeks after Trump won the 2024 presidential election.
That purchase allowed a Trump-affiliated holding company called DT Marks DEFI LLC to receive “75% of the net protocol revenues. ” It’s unclear how much of the MGX deal will benefit Trump, though “a lot” feels like a safe bet.
As Trump’s crypto empire expands, so does concern over conflicts of interest. His administration has gradually loosened oversight of the digital asset industry — raising questions about whether crypto cronyism is running rampant.
So far, the Trump administration’s U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has dropped numerous lawsuits and investigations against crypto and blockchain companies, including Dragonchain, Coinbase, Gemini, Uniswa and Ripple.
Or to put it another way: the president’s crypto strategy might be less about decentralization and more about consolidation — of wealth, influence, and dinner invitations to Mar-a-Lago.