Trump's sons score $5bn fortune in massive crypto gamble
Donald Trump's boys have made a new fortune of around $5billion after launching a bitcoin mining venture.
Don Jr, Eric, and Barron are co-founders of World Liberty Financial, a company launched as a way for the three brothers and their partners to allow people to access financial services using cryptocurrencies and without intermediaries like banks.
The venture opened for public trading on Monday and it gained WLFI $5billion in paper wealth, making it likely the Trump family's most valuable asset, WSJ reported.
Cash happy: Don Trump Jr, Zach Witkoff, and Eric Trump have made $5bn in a bitcoin venture
The co-founders include all three Trump boys, as well as the sons of the President's administration diplomat Steve Witkoff.
Both President Trump and Witkoff are listed as 'co-founder emeritus' and the POTUS owns around 25 per cent of WFLI tokens.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has promised that 'neither the President nor his family have ever engaged, or will ever engage, in conflicts of interest' in a statement.
World Liberty has said that the founders and team members cannot currently sell their own tokens.
Bitcoin boss: President Trump is a 'co-founder emeritus' of World Liberty Financial
The two eldest Trump sons celebrated their big day with posts to social media promoting WLFI.
'Big day - @WorldLibertyFi just launched the $WLFI token. This isn’t some meme coin, it’s the governance backbone of a real ecosystem changing how money moves. Freedom + finance + America FIRST. Home Team,' wrote Don Jr.
Eric added: 'We are now live!!!! Our team has always believed in American strength and leadership. With today’s @WorldLibertyFi’s $WLFI token launch, we’re setting a new standard for financial freedom; built on trust, speed, and U.S. values. This is a huge moment for the future of money!
Trump and his family have a majority ownership stake in World Liberty Financial that entitles them to 75 per cent of earnings from their first coin, $WLFI, released last September, according to the company’s website.
The venture was helped along by some with interests before the Trump administration.
Two of its co-founders, crypto entrepreneurs Zak Folkman and Chase Herro, were replaced as the controlling parties of World Liberty by an entity in which the Trump family holds a 60 per cent stake.
Trump has been transparent about his desire to make America the 'crypto capital of the planet.'
He promised to be the 'crypto president,' who will popularize its mainstream use in America, despite once being a crypto skeptic himself who described bitcoin as a 'scam.'
Buoyant bros: Don Trump Jr and Eric Trump before ringing the opening bell to celebrate the closing of ALT5's $1.5bn offering and adoption of its $WLFI Treasury Strategy
Trump has said he backs crypto because it can improve the banking system and increase the dominance of the U.S. dollar.
Proving the family's commitment to the sector, Trump and Melania even launched two separate meme coins on Inauguration day.
Trump's $Trump earned more than $100million in January alone before it crashed. Similarly, early takers of Melania's meme coin stood to make millions before it plummeted.
At the same time the Trump family, long known for skyscrapers and country clubs, rapidly gained hundreds of millions of dollars through their crypto investments.
The Trump Organization announced in January that the President's investments, assets and business interests would be held in a trust managed by his children and he would play no role in day-to-day operations or decision-making.
The family's business also retained an attorney to serve as an ethics adviser to 'avoid any perceived conflicts of interest.'
The Trump family famously made its money in real estate, putting its mark on the New York City skyline and at Trump properties throughout the world.
But the family is diversifying and opened multiple beachheads in crypto, quickly gaining hundreds of millions of dollars.
Those other crypto forays include Trump NFTs, a meme coin, a stake in a newly formed bitcoin producer called American Bitcoin as well as WLFI.
