The Crypto President: How Donald Trump is using his office to enrich his family, has added $5 billion to his wealth after WLFI crypto launch
The Trump family has scored one of their biggest financial wins on paper in the world of cryptocurrency. On Monday, 1st September, their flagship crypto venture, World Liberty Financial, launched a new digital currency called WLFI, and the debut was nothing short of explosive.
Within hours of trading, the token had already created paper wealth worth as much as $5 billion for the president’s family.
The launch worked almost like a traditional IPO (Initial Public Offering). Until now, people who bought WLFI privately had no way of trading their tokens. Monday’s launch changed that, allowing WLFI to be bought and sold freely on major crypto exchanges.
The Trumps collectively own just under a quarter of all WLFI tokens, instantly making it their single most valuable asset, even bigger than the family’s decades-old real estate empire. President Donald Trump himself is listed as a “Co-Founder Emeritus” of World Liberty, while his three sons are co-founders and active faces of the venture.
Even though the founders’ tokens are “locked”, meaning they cannot sell them yet, the public debut gave the market a clear valuation of their holdings. At its peak price of around 30 cents, the Trump family’s WLFI stake was valued at more than $6 billion.
Crypto over real estate
For decades, Trump’s name was synonymous with luxury hotels, golf courses, and towering real estate. But with WLFI, crypto has now become the crown jewel of his portfolio.
The Trump family helped launch World Liberty Financial last year during the height of the 2024 presidential campaign. While campaigning, Trump called it a part of his mission to “make America great again, this time with crypto.”
A corporate entity owned by the Trump family controls a 60% stake in the company, according to the firm’s website, where Trump was once listed as the firm’s “Chief Crypto Advocate.”
The launch captured attention worldwide, with trading on exchanges like Binance surging to nearly $1 billion in tokens within the first hour. Prices eventually slipped from their high, settling around 20 cents. But even at that level, the Trump family’s stake still represented billions of dollars on paper.
Other Trump-linked digital assets are also contributing to this windfall. The family controls around 80% of $Trump, a memecoin that has itself been worth several billion dollars. On top of that, Trump Media, which owns Truth Social and has significant crypto holdings, is valued at around $2.5 billion.
Together, this network of tokens and companies positions the Trumps as one of the most powerful families in the global crypto industry.
A profitable side deal
The launch of WLFI was made possible through a creative financial maneuver. Earlier this year, World Liberty took over a publicly listed company and raised $750 million in cash from investors. That money was then used to buy the WLFI tokens.
Critics called the transaction “circular,” since World Liberty effectively sold tokens to itself with investor money. But the structure ensures that the Trump family gets to keep up to three-quarters of the revenues from the token sale, which could bring them as much as $500 million in profits.
For early investors, the launch was also highly lucrative. Those who bought WLFI at just 1.5 cents a token last year are now sitting on massive gains, even if the price has fallen from its opening highs.
The risks of paper wealth
Despite the soaring valuations, actually converting this wealth into cash may be difficult. Crypto currencies are notoriously volatile, and even small amounts of selling can cause prices to drop sharply.
The Trump family’s fortune in crypto is highly dependent on market sentiment. For instance, their memecoin $Trump soared when it launched in January but later collapsed. WLFI could follow a similar pattern, depending on how much interest and liquidity remain in the months ahead.
Still, for now, the launch represents one of the biggest financial victories for the family since Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Trump’s policies helped pave the way
The success of Trump’s crypto empire isn’t just about timing or branding. It’s also tied closely to legislation and policy decisions that he himself has pushed from the White House.
On 7th August, 2025, Trump signed an executive order that could funnel trillions of dollars from American retirement accounts into cryptocurrencies and other alternative assets. The order allows fund managers to include crypto, private equity, and even real estate investments in 401(k) retirement plans, something that wasn’t previously allowed.
This opens the door to a $12 trillion market of retirement funds, giving a massive potential boost to crypto projects like WLFI. For Trump, who is now both a policymaker and a crypto entrepreneur, the move could significantly enrich his own ventures.
“Crypto capital of the world”
Trump framed the order as a way to cut back regulations and encourage innovation. Once a skeptic who dismissed Bitcoin as “a scam,” he has now become one of the strongest champions of digital currency.
“This will make America the crypto capital of the world,” Trump declared when signing the order, arguing that it would help ordinary workers get better returns on their retirement investments.
The order also directs the Labor Secretary to work with the Treasury, the SEC, and other regulators to adjust rules in favor of these new assets. In short, the entire system is being nudged to accommodate crypto investments.
Concerns over risk
Not everyone is convinced this is a good idea. Critics say putting volatile and speculative assets like cryptocurrencies into retirement accounts could be dangerous. Retirement savings are usually invested in safer, more stable options like stocks and bonds. By comparison, crypto is prone to sudden crashes, fraud, and manipulation.
“Opening up the $9 trillion 401(k) industry to alternative assets is reasonable,” said Anil Khurana of Georgetown University, “but if these assets are highly speculative and underregulated, it could be a big mistake.”
Analysts also warn that the order could lead to lawsuits from retirees who don’t fully understand the risks. Plaintiffs’ lawyers are already preparing to challenge fund managers who might steer workers’ savings into complex investments like WLFI.
A win for big finance and Trump
Despite these concerns, the order is being celebrated by the financial industry. Firms like BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, had lobbied for such a move and are already preparing to launch new funds that include crypto and private equity.
For the Trump family, the timing couldn’t be better. With WLFI now trading publicly and valued in the billions, any surge in retirement fund investments could directly boost demand for the coin, and by extension, the family’s fortune.
A new chapter in Trump’s fortune
The debut of WLFI marks a turning point in Trump’s financial empire. What began as a real estate dynasty is now firmly entrenched in the volatile but booming world of crypto.
Whether this wealth lasts or evaporates depends on how long WLFI and related tokens can hold investor interest. But one thing is clear: Trump has successfully leveraged both his political power and his business acumen to transform his family into crypto billionaires.
By pairing high-profile launches with favorable policies like the new 401(k) executive order, Trump is not just participating in the crypto market, he’s shaping it.
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