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Donald Trump<\/strong> and his family made approximately $5 billion<\/a> on Monday when WLFI, the token associated with their crypto venture, World Liberty Financial, began trading on public markets. But World Liberty is far from the only crypto-based money-making business the president has going on right now. Indeed, it seems that on any given day, the leader of the free world\u2014who once called Bitcoin a \u201cscam<\/a>\u201d but is now \u201ca big crypto fan<\/a>\u201d who wants to build<\/a> a \u201cstrategic bitcoin reserve\u201d*\u2014is finding new opportunities to enrich himself through crypto dealings.<\/p>\n Most recently, that\u2019s involved:<\/p>\n The biggest new source of wealth for Trump and his relatives, WLFI started trading<\/a> on Labor Day, and in the process, netted Trump and his children an estimated $5 billion on paper. (Trump\u2019s three sons\u2014Don Jr., Eric,<\/strong> and Barron Trump<\/strong>\u2014are \u201ccofounders\u201d of World Liberty\u2014while the president is listed on its website as \u201ccofounder emeritus,\u201d because maintaining the appearance<\/a> of not using the presidency to get rich is important to the family.) According to a public financial disclosure report<\/a>, Trump owned<\/a> 15.75 billion WLFI tokens by the end of 2024, and while he and his cofounders cannot currently sell them, they are now one of the biggest assets in his portfolio, worth far more, per The New York Times<\/a>,<\/em> than his real estate holdings.<\/p>\n The Devin Nunes<\/strong>\u2013led Trump Media & Technology Group\u2014 the parent company of Truth Social\u2014said<\/a> last week that it is starting a new company called Trump Media Group CRO Strategy, which will buy and hold CRO, a token developed by Crypto.com. The venture said it will raise approximately $6.4 billion in order to purchase the tokens, with $1 billion in tokens coming from<\/a> Crypto.com and a $5 billion line of credit from an affiliate of New Jersey financial firm Yorkville Acquisition Corp. The move follows TMTG\u2019s July acquisition<\/a> of $2 billion in Bitcoin and Bitcoin-related securities. TMTG also recently filed paperwork with the SEC to launch a bunch of crypto exchange-traded funds.<\/p>\n In July, Trump signed into law the GENIUS Act, which makes it easier for banks and other financial entities to issue digital currencies known as stablecoins. During the signing at the White House, he told<\/a> reporters: \u201cI pledged that we would bring back American liberty and leadership and make the United States the crypto capital of the world. And that\u2019s what we\u2019ve done under the Trump administration.\u201d (Critics were less enthused about the new law, with Carla Sanchez-Adams,<\/strong> senior attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, saying<\/a> it would\u00a0 \u201cbenefit only crypto-billionaires and large corporate actors while exposing ordinary consumers to incredible risk with no protection.\u201d)<\/p>\n Passed by the House in July, the Senate is reportedly expected<\/a> to take up the crypto regulations bill later this month. If passed and signed by Trump, the law would give<\/a> the Commodity Futures Trading Commission authority over \u201cdigital commodities.\u201d Critics worry it will \u201clead to far weaker policing of what they consider to be a dangerous segment of the financial sector.\u201d Which means a certain crypto president probably loves it.<\/p>\n *Which at least one economist has said \u201cmakes no sense<\/a>.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\nThe WLFI launch<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Crypto.com partnership<\/strong><\/h2>\n
GENIUS Act<\/strong><\/h2>\n
CLARITY Act<\/strong><\/h2>\n