Trump Crypto Ventures Generated $2.3B as Investor Losses Mounted, Reuters Finds

World Liberty Financial became the largest source of revenue

World Liberty Financial represented the largest contributor to the Trump family’s crypto-related income. The project began selling governance tokens in October 2024 and promoted President Donald Trump and his sons as central figures. Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump traveled to promote the platform’s vision of a financial system operating outside traditional banks.

The platform was presented as a decentralized finance and stablecoin project. DT Marks DEFI LLC held a contractual right to receive 75% of token-sale proceeds after expenses. World Liberty Financial raised about $1.4 billion through the sale of 30 billion governance tokens, with estimates indicating nearly $987 million flowed to the Trump family after expenses.

Additional sales involving roughly 3 billion more tokens may have pushed total proceeds beyond $1.4 billion. Karan Singh Arora summarized the estimates by posting, “Trump rugged investors.” Arora also wrote, “Trump family gained -> +$1.1B” and “Investors lost -> -$674M.”

Questions were raised about early token sales and exchange activity. Buyers of World Liberty tokens were estimated to have incurred approximately $674 million in losses by the end of April. Lockup periods contributed to those losses because some holdings carried accounting values close to zero before unlock dates.

The TRUMP meme coin emerged as another major source of revenue. The token launched shortly before President Donald Trump’s second inauguration and was tied directly to his political brand.

Blockchain analysis of exchange transfers estimated that TRUMP token sales generated more than $1.2 billion in revenue. Family-related proceeds connected to allocations and marketing influence were estimated at about $616 million.

The token reached approximately $75 to $75.35 at its peak before falling to around $2.38 by late April. Investor losses associated with the token exceeded $700 million.

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Public companies expanded investor exposure

ALT5 Sigma, later renamed AI Financial Corp., provided stock-market exposure to World Liberty Financial. Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. appeared at the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York in August 2025 to celebrate the partnership.

The company raised $750 million through a share sale and used $717 million to acquire World Liberty tokens. A separate figure stated that ALT5 purchased $1.5 billion worth of WLFI tokens, creating a discrepancy between reported transaction figures.

More than $500 million from ALT5’s purchase reportedly flowed to the Trump family through World Liberty’s revenue-sharing structure. World Liberty disclosures stated that Trump and family members were entitled to about $500 million from the transaction after fees and expenses.

ALT5 closed at $8.97 on Aug. 8 before the deal announcement. The stock later fell from more than $9 in August 2025 to $0.75 by the end of April. Another figure placed AIFC at $0.66, representing a 93% decline.

Shareholders in AI Financial Corp. absorbed approximately $675 million in losses. The company warned investors it might not be able to continue operating and faced the risk of Nasdaq delisting if its shares failed to remain above penny-stock levels during the next 15 trading days.

SEC filings showed World Liberty received 1 million AI Financial shares, 99 million prefunded warrants and 20 million additional warrants. Those warrants carried exercise prices ranging from $7.50 to $9.75 per share.

Democracy Defenders Fund called for a regulatory investigation. Lawyers representing the organization sent an April letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission requesting it “commence an independent investigation into ALTS without delay.”

AI Financial later disclosed that a Rwandan court found an employee of its Canadian subsidiary guilty of offenses that included money laundering. The company said the case remained under appeal.

Corporate instability followed. ALT5 suspended its chief executive officer in October. An acting replacement was removed in November, and a third CEO subsequently took over leadership.

Nasdaq warned the company in November that it risked delisting because it had not filed a quarterly report on time. Its outside auditor resigned the same month. The company hired another auditor and later disclosed that a third auditor was required after discovering the second auditor’s license had expired.

Before entering crypto, the company operated under the name JanOne in the biotechnology sector. The Securities and Exchange Commission settled a fraud allegation with the company in 2024. JanOne paid a $250,000 fine without admitting wrongdoing.

The $1.5 billion World Liberty transaction provided AI Financial with 7.3 billion WLFI tokens at $0.20 each. By June 8, WLFI traded around $0.057, representing a 72% decline. The holding was valued at approximately $412 million, while AI Financial’s total market capitalization stood at $89 million based on FactSet data.

American Bitcoin added another public-market channel

American Bitcoin operated as a Bitcoin mining and treasury company backed by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. The company obtained a Nasdaq listing in 2025.

The Trump brothers received stakes in the company at no monetary cost. Eric Trump’s stake remained worth more than $70 million at the end of April despite a steep decline in the stock price. The size of Donald Trump Jr.’s stake was not disclosed.

American Bitcoin shares fell from around $11 at launch in September to approximately $1.15 by the end of April. The decline erased more than $200 million in investor value.

Combined losses across AI Financial Corp. and American Bitcoin exceeded $875 million.

Democratic lawmakers led by Senator Elizabeth Warren petitioned the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission over concerns that financial interests tied to crypto and prediction markets could affect regulatory decision-making.

The White House rejected those concerns and said its goal was to secure American leadership in digital assets. Representatives for World Liberty maintained that the platform operates as a private fintech business rather than a political project.