The Crypto cabinet: One in five of Trump's closet allies hold significant cryptocurrency assets
Several cabinet members, including Vice President JD Vance and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, have all reported personal stakes – as well as the president himself, who has reported at least $51 million worth of investment.
Despite being skeptical of the digital currency during his first term, digital assets now feature heavily on the president's disclosures, according to analysis by The Washington Post. As recently as this week, Trump extolled the virtues of crypto.
'HAPPY CRYPTO WEEK!,' he wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday. 'The House will soon VOTE on a tremendous Bill to Make America the UNDISPUTED, NUMBER ONE LEADER in Digital Assets - Nobody does it better!... Digital Assets are the FUTURE, and we are leading by a lot!'
Back in January, three days before his second inauguration, Trump announced the launch of his own Meme Coin, '$TRUMP.' A batch of the memecoins is due to be unlocked – made available for trading or transferring – which could add almost $100 million to the president's net worth, according to Bloomberg.
According to The Post's examination of financial disclosure forms from nearly 300 top-level appointees, around 70 administration officials and nominees held cryptocurrency or investments in blockchain or digital-asset companies.
Some, who went on to be sworn in to office, told the outlet that they had divested (sold off) their assets, or planned to.
In total, Trump officials and nominees reported a minimum of $193 million in crypto assets, including both cryptocurrency holdings and investments in crypto or blockchain companies, per analysis by The Post.
The Independent has contacted the White House about the scale and range of those in the administration investing in cryptocurrency.
White House spokesman Harrison Fields told The Independent that the investments reflected the success of Trump officials in the private sector but insisted there were no conflicts of interest.
'President Trump has assembled an Administration of extraordinarily talented and successful Americans whose achievements come not from a career in the public sector, but from the private sector,' Fields said in a statement.
'Every member of this team abides by all ethical guidelines, and conflicts of interest are never tolerated. The President is solely focused on enriching this nation and the American people, and month after month, the data is clear: hardworking families are doing much better today than they were four years ago.'
The large number of Trump administration crypto investors comes in stark contrast to that of his predecessor. No officials in the Biden administration cabinet reported digital currencies in their final financial disclosures, according to The Post's analysis.
Before Trump, no other president had held cryptocurrency or digital assets.
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