Trump’s crypto payday tops $1.4 billion

New disclosures show the president profited from family crypto ventures while his administration rewrote policy for the industry.

11
SOURCENationofChange

President Donald Trump’s latest financial disclosure puts a hard number on one of the most direct ethics questions of his second term: how much money can a sitting president make from an industry his administration is actively reshaping?

The answer, according to Reuters’ review of Trump’s 2025 annual financial disclosure, is more than $1.4 billion from family cryptocurrency ventures alone.

The filing, released by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics on June 30, shows that Trump’s companies received almost $800 million from World Liberty Financial, a crypto venture he co-founded with his sons. That figure included more than $520 million from crypto token sales and more than $250 million from the sale of interests in the World Liberty business. Trump also reported another $635 million from sales of Trump meme coins.

The numbers mark a major shift in the president’s financial base. For decades, Trump’s public identity and private fortune were rooted in real estate, licensing deals, golf clubs, resorts, and branded consumer products. Now, digital assets have become one of the largest reported sources of income for the sitting president, even as federal regulators, prosecutors, lawmakers, and executive agencies make decisions that affect the future of the crypto market.

That overlap is what makes the disclosure more than a wealth story. It is a public power story.

Trump returned to office in 2025 promising to make the United States the “crypto capital of the world.” Since then, his administration has pursued policies the industry has sought for years, including more favorable treatment of stablecoins and a pullback in enforcement pressure from the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to Reuters. Those policy changes have taken place while Trump and his family continued to benefit financially from crypto ventures tied to his name, brand, political movement, and presidency.

The White House rejects the conflict-of-interest charge. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told Reuters, “Neither the President nor his family has ever engaged — or will ever engage — in conflicts of interest. President Trump proudly made the United States the crypto capital of the world through executive actions.”

The disclosure does not prove that any specific government action was taken to benefit a Trump business. But it does show that the president has a major personal financial stake in a sector where federal policy is still being written. That is the central accountability issue: the public is being asked to trust crypto policy decisions made by an administration headed by a president whose family fortune is now deeply tied to crypto’s growth.

The concern is sharpened by the structure of the ventures themselves. Reuters reported earlier in June that the Trump family has made at least $2.3 billion from its main crypto projects since Trump returned to the White House, while outside investors had taken a $2.3 billion hit, including paper losses, by the end of April. Reuters’ examination found that the family used a model in which it risked little of its own money while receiving large proceeds from projects marketed to supporters and investors.

In that earlier investigation, Reuters examined thousands of pages of corporate filings and statements, interviewed crypto consultants and academics, and spoke with individual investors. The news organization concluded that the Trump family benefited from an arrangement with limited downside risk, while many buyers were exposed to losses tied to volatile tokens and crypto-linked companies.

That pattern matters because crypto markets already carry high risks for ordinary investors. Meme coins, governance tokens, and politically branded digital assets can move sharply on hype, access, celebrity, and political attention. When the brand behind those assets belongs to the president of the United States, the usual line between private promotion and public authority becomes harder to separate.

The president’s defenders argue that Trump is not managing his personal finances day to day and that his business interests are handled by family members or outside structures. But ethics questions do not disappear simply because a president delegates management. The issue is not only who signs paperwork or runs daily operations. It is who benefits, who has access, and whether public decisions can be trusted when the president’s private income rises alongside an industry’s political gains.

Crypto’s political power is also expanding beyond Trump’s own disclosures. Reuters reported June 30 that cryptocurrency companies have spent $189 million so far to influence the 2026 midterm elections, citing a Public Citizen report. That spending makes the industry the top corporate political spender so far in the cycle, with more than one-third of all corporate money contributed to this year’s elections and primaries coming from crypto interests.

The result is a two-front pressure campaign. On one front, crypto companies are spending heavily to shape Congress. On the other, the president’s family has built a crypto business empire that benefits from a friendlier federal environment. For voters, investors, and taxpayers, the question is not whether crypto companies have the right to advocate for policy. The question is whether democratic institutions have enough guardrails to prevent public authority from becoming a private revenue stream.

The scale of the filing also points to a larger weakness in federal ethics law. Presidents are required to disclose assets and income, but disclosure is not the same as divestment. Past presidents have often tried to distance themselves from private business interests while in office, including through blind trusts or other separation measures. Trump has instead maintained a public brand and family business network that continues to generate income from domestic and foreign sources, including fast-growing digital asset ventures.

That creates a gap between what the law requires and what public accountability demands. A disclosure can show the public where money is coming from, but it does not stop a president from profiting from sectors affected by his administration’s policies. It does not prevent supporters, investors, companies, or foreign-linked interests from pouring money into ventures connected to the president’s family. It does not resolve the basic question of whether policy is being made in the public interest or in an environment shaped by private financial incentives.

For crypto investors who bought into Trump-linked projects, the stakes are also personal. Reuters’ June investigation found more than a million investors had net losses totaling $2.3 billion at the end of April, while the Trump family’s crypto profits moved in the opposite direction. Those losses do not necessarily mean laws were broken. But they do expose a market where political branding, presidential access, and speculative finance can pull ordinary buyers into risky assets while insiders profit early.

Trump dismissed questions about the disclosure Wednesday, saying he does not handle his personal finances and that rising markets are helping many people. But the president’s answer does not address the core ethics problem created by a sitting president receiving vast income from an industry seeking favorable federal treatment.

The new filing gives Congress, regulators, watchdogs, and the public a clearer view of the money. What it does not provide is a clear firewall between presidential power and presidential profit.

“You know why I’m profiting? Because the stock market’s going up, everybody’s profiting,” Trump said.

FALL FUNDRAISER

If you liked this article, please donate $5 to keep NationofChange online through November.

[give_form id="735829"]

COMMENTS