Trump family’s cryptocurrency ties raise concerns as administration loosens regulations

Amna Nawaz:

As President Trump's administration has loosened regulations on cryptocurrency and pledged to make the U.S. the crypto capital of the world, his family's ties to the industry are raising ethical concerns and blurring the lines between business and government.

Our White House correspondent, Liz Landers, takes a closer look.

Liz Landers:

For more than a year, President Trump's two oldest sons, Eric and Don Jr., have been on something of a globe-trotting road show preaching the virtues of cryptocurrency…

Eric Trump, Executive Vice President, Trump Organization:

I think it's going to change your modern financial system forever.

(Cheering)

Liz Landers:

… and promoting a crypto company backed by the Trump family called World Liberty Financial.

Donald Trump Jr., Executive Vice President, Trump Organization:

Yes, we call it the World Liberty because of the liberty aspect of it, but also because of the world aspect of it, right? This isn't just about America.

Liz Landers:

Launched in September 2024, World Liberty Financial bills itself as a — quote — "decentralized finance company."

President Donald Trump:

Big news, the World Liberty Financial token sale is now live. Crypto is the future. Let's embrace this incredible technology and lead the world in digital economy. Go to worldlibertyfinancial.com.

Liz Landers:

Its Web site features President Trump labeled as a co-founder emeritus and lists his three sons, Eric, Don Jr. and Barron Trump, as co-founders. Also listed, co-founder emeritus Steve Witkoff, now President Trump's diplomatic special envoy, and Witkoff's two sons Zach and Alex, both co-founders.

A footnote on the Web site notes that both President Trump and Steve Witkoff were both — quote — "removed upon taking office."

Last month, President Trump pardoned Changpeng Zhao, the billionaire founder of Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange. In 2023, the company admitted to evading U.S. sanction laws, and Zhao, known as C.Z., pleaded guilty to violating anti-money laundering laws.

President Trump told 60 Minutes after issuing the pardon that he doesn't know Zhao.

Donald Trump:

I don't know who he is. I know he got a four-month sentence or something like that, and I heard it was a Biden witch-hunt.

Liz Landers:

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt:

Karoline Leavitt, White House Press Secretary:

He means he does not have a personal relationship with this individual. And when it comes to pardons, the White House takes them with the utmost seriousness. There's a whole team of qualified lawyers who look at every single pardon request that ultimately make their way up to the president of the United States.

Man:

We are excited to announce today…

Liz Landers:

Earlier this year, when a state-owned investment firm in the United Arab Emirates sought to invest in Binance, Zhao's company gave a high-profile boost to World Liberty Financial's credibility, reportedly pushing for the $2 billion deal to be paid using World Liberty Financial's new stablecoin, USD1, a type of cryptocurrency that maintains a constant price, and, in the case of USD1, is tied to the U.S. dollar.

Binance CEO Richard Teng denied reports his company pushed to use USD1.

Richard Teng, CEO, Binance:

We didn't partake in that position. USD1 was listed on other exchanges before it was listed on Binance, right? So a lot of these reports just miscategorized. They are totally false.

Liz Landers:

It was one of World Liberty Financial's first major deals and a potential windfall for the Trump family.

Zeke Faux, Bloomberg:

You can kind of think of this like Binance putting a $2 billion deposit at the bank of the Trumps. And so that $2 billion has been parked there since as far as we know. And the World Liberty is earning interest on it.

Liz Landers:

Zeke Faux is an investigative reporter for Bloomberg and author of "Number Go Up: Inside Crypto's Wild Rise and Staggering Fall."

Do we know how much the Trump family has made off of World Liberty Financial at this point?

Zeke Faux:

On World Liberty, I'd estimate $400 million, $500 million. And that's just one of their many crypto businesses. The Trumps have likely made more than a billion dollars off crypto while — just in the year that Donald Trump's been in office.

Liz Landers:

That total dwarfs what the Trump family earned from its other businesses in the first half of this year, $33 million from golf clubs and resorts, and $23 million from licensing the Trump name, according to a recent investigation by Reuters.

Donald Trump:

My sons are into it. I'm glad they are because it's probably a great industry, crypto. I think it's good. They're running a business. They're not in government.

Donald Trump Jr.:

And so this whole notion of democratizing finance, that's not going to be done in the traditional banking way. That's going to be done in crypto.

Liz Landers:

In early August, a Nasdaq company called ALT5 Sigma purchased $750 million worth of another World Liberty product, digital tokens called WLFI.

Eric Trump:

What we are going to do with this company is absolutely amazing, and I could not be more proud.

Liz Landers:

The Trump family company receives up to 75 percent of revenue from sales of the World Liberty Financial token after expenses.

David Yaffe-Bellany, The New York Times:

This coin has created a new way for people to channel money to the president.

Liz Landers:

David Yaffe-Bellany covers the crypto industry for The New York Times. He says the Trump crypto ventures offer a new way to get around campaign finance laws.

David Yaffe-Bellany:

With crypto, none of those rules exist. And so people who are based in foreign countries and are banned from donating to the political process in the U.S. have this new route for directing money toward the president.

Liz Landers:

When asked about the potential for foreign governments to invest in the company to curry favor with the president, a spokesman said — quote — "World Liberty Financial is a private financial technology company and not in any way a political entity."

Separate from World Liberty, another crypto vehicle, Trump meme coins. There's one called Trump and another one named after Melania. The Trump family and its partners have made more than $300 million in fees from sales of the coins, according to several analyses.

But for investors, it's a different story. The Trump coin's value has fallen about 90 percent from its all-time high shortly after debuting in January. The Melania coin has dropped 99 percent.

Zeke Faux:

Creating a meme coin really doesn't take much. You're selling like a made-up token that doesn't do anything for real money. So it's pretty much pure profit.

Liz Landers:

In May, President Trump held a crypto dinner at his Virginia country club with some of the largest investors in his Trump meme coin, among the guests, Justin Sun, a Chinese-born crypto billionaire who had been facing SEC charges for securities fraud. Sun has also invested more than $75 million in the Trump-backed World Liberty Financial. A few weeks after the purchases, the SEC paused the case against him.

Is this a way for foreign investors or foreign companies or foreign individuals to try to gain influence with the president?

David Yaffe-Bellany:

It's a complicated question. There's absolutely no doubt that some of the people who have bought this coin, used the coin want to have influence with the president and see this as a means of getting it.

My colleagues and I have spoken to some of them, and they have been very up front about what their motivations are.

Liz Landers:

In a statement, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in part — quote — "The media's continued attempts to fabricate conflicts of interest are irresponsible and reinforce the public's distrust in what they read. Neither the president nor his family have ever engaged or will ever engage in conflicts of interest. The administration is fulfilling the president's promise to make the United States the crypto capital of the world by driving innovation and economic opportunity for all Americans."

In just the last year, the president's estimate net worth jumped $3 billion, according to Forbes, the primary source of that wealth, cryptocurrency.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Liz Landers.