Who Stole the Golden Egg? Trump’s Crypto Fortune and the $698M Vanishing Act

Oh, how the world turns! The realm of cryptocurrency has now eclipsed the once-majestic towers and media empires of Mr. T, with the WLFI token bestowing upon him a fantastical $5 billion valuation on paper. But, oh dear reader, who managed to spirit away a cool $698 million on the very first day of trading? 🤔💰

WLFI Debut Bestows Billions on Paper

On September 1st, the World Liberty Financial (WLFI) token graced the trading floors of Binance, OKX, and Bybit, and lo, the Wall Street Journal reported that early market activity had bestowed a paper valuation of over $5 billion on the Trump family’s stake.

The Financial Times, ever the keen observer, noted that President Trump himself held 15.75 billion WLFI tokens at year-end, translating to a tidy $3.6 billion at the opening day’s trading price. Quite the windfall, wouldn’t you say?

But alas, the markets, ever fickle, saw the token slide from a high of over $0.46 to a mere $0.24 by September 2nd, a decline of more than 47%. Such is the nature of the beast, my dear readers. 🦁📉

The family’s foray into the crypto world had begun much earlier, with the Official Trump (TRUMP) memecoin launching on Solana (SOL) on January 17th. By January 19th, it had reached a market value of over $14.5 billion before retreating, much to the chagrin of early adopters.

A Reuters report, ever the bearer of tidings, revealed that nearly $100 million in trading fees had accrued to entities tied to the project during its early days. A veritable feast for the insiders, it seems.

Donald Trump’s financial disclosure on June 14th confirmed the family’s deep pockets, reporting about $57.4 million in income from World Liberty Financial during 2024, alongside personal token holdings. Forbes, the oracle of wealth, had already concluded that digital assets represented the largest share of his wealth, even before WLFI began trading on public markets.

By comparison, traditional pillars such as real estate and media now seem like quaint relics of a bygone era. Forbes’ last detailed rollup in March 2024 placed Trump’s real estate portfolio at just over $1.9 billion after debt, while the Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT) carried a company value of around $3.7 billion in early April 2025, though its market cap has since fluctuated wildly.

Crypto, then, has usurped both real estate and media as the cornerstone of Trump’s financial empire, though much of this value remains on paper, with token markets being as volatile as a tempest at sea. Yet, disclosures and blockchain data reveal that tens of millions in real income have already been realized. 💸📊

Trump Family Locks In Control Through Delaware Vehicles

World Liberty Financial, a non-stock corporation formed in Delaware in 2024, stands as the overseer of the WLF Protocol. Donald Trump, the patriarch, is named co-founder emeritus, while his sons Donald Jr., Eric, and Barron are listed as co-founders, ensuring a dynastic legacy.

A Trump-linked holding controls approximately 60% of the corporate structure and is entitled to a generous 75% of the revenues from WLFI token sales, cementing the family’s role as the central players in this grand drama.

WLFI boasts a total supply of 100 billion tokens, distributed across four groups. About 33.893% went to token sales, another 32.6% was earmarked for community growth and incentives, and a founder allocation of 30% was divided among three Delaware companies: DT Marks DEFI LLC, Axiom Management Group, and WC Digital Fi LLC. The remaining 3.5% was allotted to team members and advisors.

DT Marks DEFI LLC, the Trump family’s primary vehicle in the project, received 22.5 billion WLFI, equivalent to 22.5% of the total supply, and is also entitled to 75% of net protocol revenues after a $15 million reserve and agreed expenses. A true feast for the lions, wouldn’t you say?

Axiom, a Puerto Rican company owned by Chase Herro and Zachary Folkman, and WC Digital Fi, affiliated with developer Steve Witkoff and his family, together hold 7.5% of the total supply and share the remaining 25% of net protocol revenues. The exact percentages between them remain shrouded in mystery.

Governance is structured around one token, one vote, with no single wallet or affiliated group able to exercise more than 5% of the total. Proposals are submitted through Snapshot and executed by a multisignature account controlled by World Liberty Financial. Token holders can participate in decisions, while the corporation retains responsibility for execution and oversight during legal or technical challenges.

The Trump Brand Packaged as Tokens, Cards, and Coins

The Trump family’s ventures in crypto extend far beyond governance tokens, encompassing memecoins, NFTs, and even a fiat-backed stablecoin, each contributing to a diverse and lucrative ecosystem.

The TRUMP token, tightly controlled by CIC Digital LLC, a company linked to the Trump network, owned 80% of the supply, leaving outside investors with only a small float. This ensured that transaction fees and liquidity revenues flowed to insiders from the outset, a clever bit of financial alchemy if ever there was one.

Melania Trump, ever the trendsetter, attempted to replicate this success with her own memecoin, Official Melania (MELANIA). However, the launch, partly handled by Hayden Davis, an individual later implicated in the LIBRA crypto scandal, proved less fortunate. Data reveals that 24 wallets purchased $2.6 million worth of MELANIA tokens just minutes before the public announcement and quickly flipped them for nearly $100 million in profit. A tale of quick gains and even quicker losses, wouldn’t you say?

NFTs, those digital treasures, had already demonstrated their profitability. Trump’s digital trading cards, released in 2022 and 2023, sold out in both drops, raising millions of dollars and building a dedicated audience for blockchain products bearing the Trump name.

In May 2025, crypto became a gatekeeper to physical access. Holders of large TRUMP positions were invited to a private dinner at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, where guests included international investors such as Justin Sun. The size of a digital wallet, not a donation check, determined entry, a novel twist on the pay-for-access model.

The ecosystem expanded further with the March 2025 launch of USD1, a stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial. Pegged one-to-one to the US dollar and backed by cash and Treasury money market funds, USD1 has grown to a market cap of roughly $2.7 billion. It has been used both for purchasing WLFI on secondary markets and for a $2 billion deal with Abu Dhabi’s state fund, placing a Trump-linked stablecoin at the heart of sovereign-level finance.

Lawmakers and Watchdogs Push Back

The Trump family’s ventures in digital assets have not gone unnoticed by lawmakers and watchdog groups, who argue that the overlap between private holdings and public office raises significant conflicts of interest.

In April 2025, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Maxine Waters sent a joint letter to the SEC, labeling WLFI “an unprecedented conflict of interest.” They requested the regulator to preserve records and investigate whether Trump-linked investors received preferential treatment in the token’s approval process.

Around the same time, Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations initiated a preliminary review of both WLFI and the TRUMP memecoin, citing risks associated with access-for-ownership events.

Watchdog groups, such as Public Citizen, filed complaints in February 2025, urging federal agencies to investigate whether the promotion of TRUMP violated solicitation and ethics rules.

The TRUMP-holder dinner at Trump National Golf Club in May 2025 became a focal point of controversy. Entry was based on token ownership, and high-level investors gained tiered access to the President. Lawmakers from both parties flagged the structure as an ethics risk, while media coverage described it as a pay-for-access model.

Concerns also extend to World Liberty Financial’s stablecoin USD1. Lawmakers and analysts argue that reserve transparency and the token’s integration with sovereign capital introduce new risks. They also warn that favorable regulatory decisions taken by the administration could benefit ventures in which the family holds substantial direct interests.

Industry voices have joined the chorus of criticism. Anthony Scaramucci, head of SkyBridge Capital, described the ventures as “Idi Amin level corruption.”

WLFI Launch Marred by Insider Dumps

Independent blockchain analysts, the modern-day sleuths of the digital realm, tracked WLFI’s first hours of trading and uncovered a market shaped by insider activity rather than open participation.

Data compiled by StarPlatinum, an ambassador for Ronin Network and a widely followed crypto analyst, revealed that wallets tied to early allocations began unloading large volumes almost immediately after listing.

The top sellers included addresses linked to insider grants and vesting pools. One wallet sold 12.1 million WLFI, equivalent to $3.8 million, while another vesting-linked wallet sold a similar amount. Several addresses with no history prior to launch also dumped millions of tokens in the same time window.

In total, more than 698 million WLFI were sent to exchanges on day one. Binance received over 400 million, OKX about 180 million, and Gate.io around 118 million. The structure amplified the effect, allowing early investors who had bought at prices between $0.015 and $0.05 to lock in 20x returns, with many exiting within hours.

The token price plummeted from $0.46 at listing to $0.25 in under three hours. Retail traders, ever the unsuspecting lambs, were still buying while insiders captured their profits. The launch, it seems, revealed not a market in the usual sense, but a mechanism that tied crypto revenues to the Trump presidency, a spectacle of modern financial theater. 🎭💼

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2025-09-02 21:19