Investigation: Trump family earns over $1 billion annually from cryptocurrency business

Author: Martin

According to an investigation by the Financial Times, US President Donald Trump and his family earned more than $1 billion in pre-tax profits from the cryptocurrency business in the past year. An investigation revealed that the Trump family's cryptocurrency empire encompasses multiple projects, including digital trading cards, memecoins, stablecoins, tokens, and decentralized finance platforms. The Trump and MELANIA meme coins generated approximately $427 million in sales and transaction fees, while the World Liberty Financial platform earned $550 million from the sale of its WLFI governance token. USD1 stablecoin sales reached $2.71 billion. Trump, once a skeptic of cryptocurrencies, has now led his family to significant profits in the sector. Last year, Trump, still a cryptocurrency skeptic, publicly criticized Bitcoin as a "scam designed to impact the value of the dollar." Yet, in less than a year, the Trump family has realized staggering profits exceeding $1 billion from cryptocurrencies.

Behind this dramatic change in wealth is Trump's transformation from a politician to an encryption booster, and his family's business empire's aggressive march into the digital age.

Crypto Layout: From Skeptic to Biggest Winner

Trump's attitude towards cryptocurrencies has undergone a 180-degree turn. In 2019, he publicly stated on social media that he "does not like Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies," believing that they are not currencies and that their value fluctuates greatly. However, during his 2024 campaign, Trump broke with his usual practice and loudly declared that he would "make the United States the global capital of crypto." After taking office, Trump quickly signed the Genius Act, which established a regulatory framework for digital stablecoins in the United States and gave the cryptocurrency industry a green light. He also appointed several cabinet members with close ties to the cryptocurrency industry, such as David Sacks, former COO of PayPal, as head of cryptocurrency policy. This shift in policy direction enabled the Trump family to enter the crypto market in a big way. In September 2024, the Trump family launched the cryptocurrency project "World Liberty Financial," which later became a major engine for the family's wealth growth. The Trump family's crypto profits primarily come from two channels: World Liberty Financial and American Bitcoin Corp. These two businesses, established less than a year ago, have generated approximately $1.3 billion in profits for the family. World Liberty Financial's performance has been particularly impressive. On September 1, the company began trading on the public market, and the Trump family, as a major shareholder, saw its paper wealth surge by approximately $5 billion. Despite the volatile value of cryptocurrencies, the Trump family has secured hundreds of millions of dollars in real profits through a "special transaction" with the publicly listed Alt5 Sigma.

In addition, American Bitcoin, a company founded by Eric Trump in March of this year (aims to mine virtual assets), went public on September 3, and its stock value at the time of its IPO exceeded US$500 million.

The Trump family also profited by issuing personal cryptocurrencies. In January of this year, Trump and his wife Melania launched their personal meme coin. Although this cryptocurrency has no actual economic or transaction value, it has brought more than US$11.4 million in revenue to entities related to Trump.

As the Trump family's crypto wealth continues to grow, lobbyists in Washington, D.C. are taking advantage of this new channel.

Cryptocurrency companies donated more than $11 million to Trump's inaugural committee during last year's election.

The regulatory boundaries of digital currencies have become blurred. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission relaxed its supervision of crypto assets during Trump's tenure, likening "emoji coins" to collectibles, allowing Trump tokens to circumvent federal securities laws.

In the future, the Trump family plans to launch a joint venture focused on Bitcoin "mining" to continue expanding its influence in the crypto market. Looking ahead to the second half of 2025, the combination of the crypto market and political power will become a new feature of the US financial landscape.