Donald Trump Accused of 'Brazen Crypto Corruption' Over Family's $1 Billion Ventures

Donald Trump has again been accused of “brazen crypto corruption” after financial disclosures revealed his family’s cryptocurrency ventures generated more than $1bn in his first year back in the White House.

Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate banking committee, said the figures showed why US Congress needed to act. “The crypto legislation heading to the Senate floor must prevent the President, Vice President, senior administration officials, members of Congress, and their families from profiting off the crypto industry,” she said. “If it does not, it will only turbocharge Donald Trump’s brazen crypto corruption.”

Juliana Stratton, the Illinois lieutenant governor and a Democratic Senate candidate, wrote on social media that Trump’s “infinite greed is disgusting”, adding: “Donald Trump uses the office of the president to make billions while American families struggle to afford their basic needs.”

The reactions followed a 927-page disclosure released on Tuesday by the US Office of Government Ethics showing that Trump earned more than $2.2bn last year in total, from real estate, golf resorts, branded merchandise, licensing deals and court settlements.

But the crypto figures stood out: World Liberty Financial, a joint venture between the Trump family and that of Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, brought in more than $500m from sales of “governance tokens”, while CIC Digital LLC took in more than $600m from Trump-branded meme coins, launched days before his second inauguration.

Gavin Newsom, California’s governor, said the disclosures “showed exactly” how Trump played his crypto cards, noting that many investors had lost out. “He got richer,” said Newsom. “His crypto supporters got rug-pulled.”

Asked about the disclosures on Wednesday, Trump waved off the scrutiny. “I made a lot of money before I became president,” he told reporters. The White House has long maintained his businesses are walled off from his official duties, run by his adult sons, and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The disclosures add to a string of controversies over the family’s crypto dealings. In June, the Ultimate Fighting Championship said it would pay fighter bonuses in USD1, a stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial, at a mixed martial arts event staged on the White House’s south lawn for the president’s birthday. (World Liberty was an official sponsor of the event.)

Congressional Democrats want a fuller reckoning. Warren’s staff reported last week that officials linked to the United Arab Emirates invested roughly $500m in World Liberty Financial, after which the administration took at least 10 actions benefiting the UAE, including on AI chip exports – an arrangement Warren has called a potential “pay-to-play” scheme.

She and four other senators wrote to Senate committees on 23 June demanding hearings into the deal, under which associates of an Abu Dhabi royal bought a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial for roughly half a billion dollars four days before Trump’s inauguration. Separately, Adam Schiff, a US senator, is leading an inquiry into the crypto exchange Binance over reports it evaded US sanctions on Iran, citing Binance’s ties to World Liberty Financial.

Not every effort to curb the US president’s crypto dealings has succeeded. An amendment barring the president, vice-president and Congress members and their families from owning or promoting crypto businesses was voted down by the US Senate banking committee along party lines, even as the underlying Clarity Act advanced.