Donald Trump's Crypto Ventures Generate Over $1 Billion, Raising Conflict of Interest Concerns

Donald Trump has raked in more than $1bn from his crypto businesses since returning to the White House, according to financial disclosures, ringing alarm bells over a conflict of interest.

According to a 927-page document released on Tuesday by the US Office of Government Ethics, in all Trump made more than $2.2bn last year, benefiting from a vast global network of businesses and investments.

That figure includes all the president’s revenue, from sources ranging from real estate and golf courses to royalty deals and Trump-branded products such as cologne. He also took millions of dollars in court settlements.

While many of the president’s crypto ventures were startups when he took the oath of office, their revenue has now eclipsed much of his vast property portfolio. This rise has been fuelled by billionaire investors and Trump’s move to quash a federal crackdown on the industry.

In his second term, the president and his family have invested heavily in digital money and crypto businesses, with Trump announcing at the start of last year that he wanted the US to be the “crypto capital of the world”.

Trump got more than $500m from his World Liberty Financial business selling new crypto products, including “governance tokens”, according to the required annual disclosure report. The report also showed that another crypto business, CIC Digital LLC, took in more than $600m from sales of souvenir-type “meme” coins stamped with Trump’s face that launched days before his inauguration.

Federal filings are released to comply with a 1978 law that requires the president and vice-president to declare their income as well as their assets.

The White House has previously responded to questions on potential conflicts of interest by saying Trump’s business interests were managed by his sons while in office.

Anna Kelly, a White House spokesperson, said: “Neither the president nor his family has ever engaged – or will ever engage – in conflicts of interest. President Trump proudly made the United States the crypto capital of the world through executive actions, supporting legislation like the Genius Act and other commonsense policies to drive innovation and economic opportunity for all Americans.”

Kelly added: “All actions by President Trump and his administration are taken in the best interest of the American people, and any so-called reporters pushing otherwise are recycling the same, tired, false narrative that Democrats and the legacy media have been pushing for a decade”.

Despite his personal gains, Trump’s crypto ventures, including his tokens and coins, have plunged in value since sales began.

California’s Democratic party governor, Gavin Newsom, who is expected to run for president in 2028, said Trump’s financial disclosure showed “exactly how his crypto play worked”. “He got richer,” Newson wrote on X. “His crypto supporters got rug-pulled.”

Trump also made millions last year from selling Trump-branded Bibles, trainers and other small items, in another unprecedented move for the presidency. In the Trump-branded watches category alone, the president earned $4.7m.

The rise of crypto relative to Trump’s property is especially noteworthy given the president racked up tens of millions from fees and licensing deals in a flurry of new hotel, resort and condo deals overseas. Many of those countries were negotiating with the US over tariffs, military aid and other important matters.

A property in the United Arab Emirates took in $10.4m; one in Saudi Arabia being built by a real estate developer close to the ruling family sent the president’s company $9m; and one in Bucharest, Romania, and another in Qatar each sent Trump $5m.

The disclosure report also detailed payments of more than $86m to the president from five separate legal settlements with media and social media companies including ABC, CBS, YouTube, Meta and X.