As far as the White House is concerned, the president has no conflicts of interest.
In response to a question this week about how her boss’s business empire and his day job intersect, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated, “Neither the President nor his family have ever engaged, or will ever engage, in conflicts of interest.”
Now think about the commercial interests of President Donald Trump: profiting greatly from the cryptocurrency sector that his policies are fostering.
Trump and his wife have their own memecoins. Digital tokens and a stablecoin are part of a business he started with his kids and his best diplomatic negotiator. His social media platform’s publicly listed parent firm is changing course to acquire cryptocurrency and transform into a digital asset treasury.
Trump has claimed to make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet,” and his personal fortune, as well as that of his kids and business associates, is becoming increasingly dependent on cryptocurrency.
The president seems to be benefiting greatly from it, as seen by the hundreds of millions of dollars in fees he received while in office and the billions that may eventually be recovered. All of this is taking place in public view.
- Last year, Trump, his senior Middle East and Ukraine negotiator Steve Witkoff, and their respective sons co-founded World Liberty Financial. The token WLFI, a new digital asset that allows traders to vote on business governance matters, went live this week. The majority of the tokens are held by the Trump family.
- Binance, the cryptocurrency exchange where WLFI is hosted, is presently seeking a pardon for its CEO.
- In addition, World Liberty Financial offers USD1, a so-called stablecoin that is based on the US dollar and is promoted as a replacement for the dollar to facilitate international transfers inside the global financial system. According to the report, one early adopter is MGX, an investment supported by the Emiratis.
- Despite being labeled as “emeritus” cofounders of World Liberty Financial, Trump and Witkoff are now marketing the company all over the world through their sons. For example, Eric Trump hyped cryptocurrency when in Asia late last month.
- Donald Jr. and Eric Trump, Trump’s kids, are also involved in a bitcoin mining company that went public on the Nasdaq on Wednesday morning. According to Forbes, the listing turned Eric Trump became a paper billionaire in his own right.
- With the president’s initials, DJT, as its stock ticker, Trump’s media firm has amassed a multibillion-dollar bitcoin portfolio and declared its intention to change course and become a digital asset treasury. It has also amassed billions of dollars in Cronos, another cryptocurrency.
Why not?
Donald Trump Jr. made the argument earlier this year that the Trumps should just go about their business since they would always be accused of wrongdoing.
During a meeting in Qatar, he declared, “We won’t go so far as to lock ourselves in a proverbial padded room and stymie our business forever.” “All we will do is play the game.”
Among the several advancements pertaining to cryptocurrency, the trading of World Liberty Financial’s WFLI token may be the most noteworthy. Because the families are unable to sell their stablecoin stockpiles at this time, the fortune that was amassed when trading began this week is solely on paper.
The Wall Street Journal estimates that the president’s on-paper crypto fortune exceeds $5 billion, implying that he will have more wealth in crypto than real estate — despite the fact that the value of the coin, which is meant to be connected to the US dollar, plummeted after trading began.
These things don’t necessarily have to be wise investments
Since last year’s election, Trump’s media firm has seen a drop of over half in market value. The president is a businessman who stands to gain financially from his actions, therefore it still raises ethical questions.
For years, ethics experts and government watchdogs have warned that foreign governments and foreigners may use Trump’s company as a tool to influence him.
Does this violate the constitution?
According to the Constitution, US officials are not allowed to accept emoluments, or payments, from foreign governments. However, there has never been a significant legal dispute about it. Trump had barely left office when the Supreme Court had the chance to review an emoluments issue during his first term that included foreign officials staying at these hotels, but it decided not to.
Though the figures are far higher, the concerns around emoluments are the same in Trump 2.0. Consider a promise from an Emirati-backed investment group to invest $2 billion in the cryptocurrency exchange Binance using the stablecoin from Trump’s business. Clearly, the authors of the Constitution had no intention of considering cryptocurrency.
Trump has other economic interests outside cryptocurrency. In contrast to Trump’s first term, the Trump Organization is actively pursuing real estate ventures globally, especially in Asia and the Middle East.
The concept of real estate is concrete and simple to understand. Even investors in cryptocurrencies may find them bewildering. When the Trumps can trade the WLFI tokens, who knows what their worth will be?
An investment firm that focus on its own cryptocurrency venture
Zach Witkoff and Eric Trump, who co-founded World Liberty Financial with their dad, are also joining the publicly traded Alt5 Sigma, which intends to purchase $1.5 billion worth of WLFI.
The Wall Street Journal claims that they may have received a $500 million payout by purchasing their own digital asset through Alt5 Sigma.
Follow the fees
Even though the firm is not regarded as a top digital asset, President Trump stands to benefit financially from it. In personal financial declarations he signed on June 13, he reported more than $57 million in income from World Liberty Financial, though it’s unclear if that includes any revenue from this year, as Reuters noted. Based on the June financial declaration, Reuters calculated that the Trumps had already embezzled over $400 million from World Liberty Financial.
However, the Trump family’s involvement with cryptocurrency goes much beyond that
$Trump, the so-called memecoin that bears his name, has been considered a joke due to its depreciated value. It basically serves as a means of supporting Trump, but according to the report, it has really generated revenue for the president, including over $320 million in fees from the sale of the memecoin.
Who purchases Trump coins?
Foreigners are among the memecoin’s biggest investors. In May, they were honored at a dinner hosted by the president at his golf club in Virginia.
But it is not often evident who is investing in these items. Zach Witkoff revealed the Emirati backing for World Liberty Financials’ stablecoin. We know about international memecoin investors who attended dinner with Trump not because the White House provided a list, but because some of the owners admitted to attending and others were identified via internet detective work. $Melania is a distinct memecoin that benefits the president and his family.
Justin Sun, a prominent memecoin investor and cryptocurrency tycoon who was born in China, made significant investments in the $Trump coin. Despite memecoins’ lack of practical use, the money he put in them likely seems like a wise investment because he was facing civil fraud charges in the US prior to Trump. Sun now serves as both an investor and an advisor to World Liberty.
“Crypto capital”
Similar to how the US possesses strategic reserves of gold and oil, President Trump is now demonstrating the power of the US government by directing the establishment of a strategic cryptocurrency reserve.
Investors probably won’t have to worry about government meddling while he is in office, he has also conveyed through regulators and the SEC.
What are Americans’ thoughts on cryptocurrency?
According to Gallup, 17% of US investors with $10,000 or more invested now hold cryptocurrencies, compared to just 2% in 2018. Political conservatives, college graduates, and men under 50 were the groups most likely to report owning crypto. But according to Gallup, 64% of investors said they are still not interested in ever making a crypto investment.
Trump’s engagement, according to Enten, indicates a widening political rift.
According to a CNBC/SurveyMonkey survey, Democrats and Republicans were almost equally inclined to consider cryptocurrency trading to be a “high risk” in 2021, with nearly half of each party believing so. In the years after, pessimism among Democrats has risen, with almost two-thirds telling Gallup respondents it is extremely hazardous now. However, among Republicans, the proportion who believe it poses a significant risk is about equal.
