Latest news with #WorldLiberty
NBC News
3 days ago
- Business
- NBC News
Trump Media builds $2 billion bitcoin hoard, as crypto swells president's net worth
Trump Media and Technology Group said Monday it has accumulated roughly $2 billion in bitcoin and related assets, as President Donald Trump 's highly lucrative pivot to crypto continues to grow his net worth while in office. The bitcoin holdings now account for about two-thirds of Trump Media's total liquid assets, the company said in a press release. Trump Media shares popped as high as 9% when markets opened Monday morning. They were up around 4% at 2 p.m. ET. Trump's stake in the company — which trades on the Nasdaq under his initials, DJT — is worth nearly $2.3 billion. The announcement offered the latest marker of how Trump and his family have embraced digital currency to such a degree that crypto now accounts for most of the president's wealth on paper, according to a Forbes analysis from June. Trump, once a digital-currency skeptic, has vowed to make the U.S. the world's crypto capital. He has already taken multiple steps in that direction by signing an executive order to establish a 'strategic bitcoin reserve,' appointing a 'crypto czar' and urging Congress to pass multiple crypto-related bills. Trump on Friday signed one of those bills, the GENIUS Act, into law after it passed with bipartisan support in the House. Trump has made millions more off of other crypto ventures, including the decentralized finance entity World Liberty Financial and the meme coin $TRUMP, whose initial coin release came just days before his inauguration. The Trump family, which owns much of World Liberty through a business entity, has made about $500 million since the venture's launch in September, according to a Reuters analysis. Trump's spokespeople have said that the president's connection to World Liberty does not create a conflict of interest because his assets are in a trust that is currently managed by his son Donald Trump Jr. But assets in that revocable trust still belong 'indirectly' to the president, who is the trust's grantor and its sole beneficiary. And the funds would be available to him after he leaves office in 2029. Critics, including Democratic lawmakers and ethics experts, warn that Trump's crypto interests and his political power create an environment ripe for corruption. 'As a stakeholder in crypto assets, President Trump will likely profit from the very policies he is pursuing,' the advocacy group Democracy Defenders Fund said in a report in April. Before taking office in January, Trump transferred all of DJT shares to a revocable trust managed by his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. Some experts were unconvinced Trump was eliminating conflict-of-interest concerns by removing himself from direct control of the shares. Since then, Trump Media has effectively redefined itself as a crypto and financial services company. The company's first product was the Twitter-like social media platform Truth Social, which is used by Trump but has failed to generate much revenue. The company, which went public last year through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, nevertheless attracted thousands of retail investors In late January, the company announced a FinTech brand called boosted by a $250 million allocation in investments including bitcoin and exchange-traded funds. In February, the company began pursuing what it called a 'strategic acquisition fund with select investors,' and in March it inked a partnership with to launch a series of ETFs. In late May, the company said it raised over $2.3 billion in net proceeds from selling stock and convertible notes to about 50 institutional investors, and that it would those funds to build a bitcoin treasury. Trump Media's announcement Monday morning came less than a week after bitcoin hit an all-time high, making it by far the world's most valuable and popular cryptocurrency. The asset jumped past $120,000 as investors anticipated Congress would pass new U.S. crypto legislation to establish a clearer regulatory framework for the nascent industry. 'We're rigorously implementing our publicly announced strategy and fulfilling our bitcoin treasury plan,' Trump Media CEO Devin Nunes said in Monday's release. 'These assets help ensure our Company's financial freedom, help protect us against discrimination by financial institutions, and will create synergies with the utility token we're planning to introduce across the Truth Social ecosphere,' Nunes said.
CNBC
3 days ago
- Business
- CNBC
Trump Media builds $2 billion bitcoin hoard, as crypto swells president's net worth
Trump Media and Technology Group said Monday it has accumulated roughly $2 billion in bitcoin and related assets, as President Donald Trump's highly lucrative pivot to crypto continues to grow his net worth while in office. The bitcoin holdings now account for about two-thirds of Trump Media's total liquid assets, the company said in a press release. Trump Media shares popped as high as 9% when markets opened Monday morning. They were up around 4% at 2 p.m. ET. Trump's stake in the company — which trades on the Nasdaq under his initials, DJT — is worth nearly $2.3 billion. The announcement offered the latest marker of how Trump and his family have embraced digital currency to such a degree that crypto now accounts for most of the president's wealth on paper, according to a Forbes analysis from June. Trump, once a digital-currency skeptic, has vowed to make the U.S. the world's crypto capital. He has already taken multiple steps in that direction by signing an executive order to establish a "strategic bitcoin reserve," appointing a "crypto czar" and urging Congress to pass multiple crypto-related bills. Trump on Friday signed one of those bills, the GENIUS Act, into law after it passed with bipartisan support in the House. Trump has made millions more off of other crypto ventures, including the decentralized finance entity World Liberty Financial and the meme coin $TRUMP, whose initial coin release came just days before his inauguration. The Trump family, which owns much of World Liberty through a business entity, has made about $500 million since the venture's launch in September, according to a Reuters analysis. Trump's spokespeople have said that the president's connection to World Liberty does not create a conflict of interest because his assets are in a trust that is currently managed by his son, Donald Trump Jr. But assets in that revocable trust still belong "indirectly" to the president, who is the trust's grantor and its sole beneficiary. And the funds would be available to him after he leaves office in 2029. Critics, including Democratic lawmakers and ethics experts, warn that Trump's crypto interests and his political power create an environment ripe for corruption. "As a stakeholder in crypto assets, President Trump will likely profit from the very policies he is pursuing," the advocacy group Democracy Defenders Fund said in a report in April. Before taking office in January, Trump transferred all of DJT shares to a revocable trust managed by his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. Some experts were unconvinced Trump was eliminating conflict-of-interest concerns by removing himself from direct control of the shares. Since then, Trump Media has effectively redefined itself as a crypto and financial services company. The company's first product was the Twitter-like social media platform Truth Social, which is used by Trump but has failed to generate much revenue. The company, which went public last year through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, nevertheless attracted thousands of retail investors In late January, the company announced a FinTech brand called boosted by a $250 million allocation in investments including bitcoin and exchange-traded funds. In February, the company began pursuing what it called a "strategic acquisition fund with select investors," and in March it inked a partnership with to launch a series of ETFs. In late May, the company said it raised over $2.3 billion in net proceeds from selling stock and convertible notes to about 50 institutional investors, and that it would those funds to build a bitcoin treasury. Trump Media's announcement Monday morning came less than a week after bitcoin hit an all-time high, making it by far the world's most valuable and popular cryptocurrency. The asset jumped past $120,000 as investors anticipated Congress would pass new U.S. crypto legislation to establish a clearer regulatory framework for the nascent industry. "We're rigorously implementing our publicly announced strategy and fulfilling our bitcoin treasury plan," Trump Media CEO Devin Nunes said in Monday's release. "These assets help ensure our Company's financial freedom, help protect us against discrimination by financial institutions, and will create synergies with the utility token we're planning to introduce across the Truth Social ecosphere," Nunes said.
Business Recorder
17-07-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
Trump's World Liberty crypto tokens to become tradable
Holders of the digital tokens issued by World Liberty Financial, one of the crypto ventures of the family of Donald Trump, voted on Wednesday to make them tradeable, paving the way for their wide sale and purchase – potentially boosting the value of the president's holdings of them. The World Liberty tokens, known as $WLFI, were sold to investors after the Trump family and their partners launched the venture - a 'decentralised finance' platform that has also issued a stablecoin - last autumn. The tokens were not made tradeable at their initial sale. Instead, they gave holders a right to vote on some changes to the business, such as its underlying code. Early investors have said the primary draw of $WLFI was the connection to Trump and, in turn, their expectations the tokens would grow in value due to his backing. Making the tokens tradeable would see investors determine their price, enabling speculation, earning trading fees for exchanges that list them and likely stoking interest from a wider swath of crypto investors. The extent to which the Trump family, which reaps three-quarters of revenues from the initial sales of the tokens, will benefit from their wider trading is not clear. Gains in the tokens' price would, however, swell the value of the family's token holdings, the exact level of which is unclear. World Liberty and Trump's other crypto businesses have faced criticism from Democratic lawmakers and ethics experts as the president's administration reshapes regulations in the booming crypto sector. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren and Democratic Representative Maxine Waters sent a letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this year in which they said, 'The Trump family's financial stake in World Liberty Financial represents an unprecedented conflict of interest with the potential to influence the Trump Administration's oversight—or lack thereof—of the cryptocurrency industry.' The World Liberty tokens have not been designated as securities by the SEC, meaning they are not subject to the same scrutiny as investments like stocks. How Dubai intends to become the 'capital of crypto' The White House has said Trump's assets are in a trust managed by his children and that there are no conflicts of interest. The White House has not released the details of the trust arrangement. The Trump family business has been placed into a trust whose sole beneficiary is the president, meaning that the hundreds of millions of dollars from crypto deals struck while Trump is in office could hypothetically be withdrawn at any time, or at the latest, be at his disposal when he leaves office in less than four years. Trump's company, DT Marks DEFI LLC, was set to receive 22.5 billion out of a total 100 billion $WLFI tokens, according to a description of the project released in October. The president held 15.75 billion of the tokens at the end of last year, according to a public financial disclosure report published last month. The Trump family has made around $500 million from World Liberty since the platform was launched, according to Reuters calculations based on the company's terms and conditions, transactions traced by crypto analysis firms and publicly-disclosed deals. Asked by Reuters how the vote would impact the value of $WLFI tokens held by Trump and his family, the White House press office said: 'This is not an inquiry for the White House.' The Trump Organization did not respond to a request for comment. In response to Reuters' questions about how the tokens will become tradable, a World Liberty spokesperson said: 'Additional details are forthcoming.' The venture says on its website that making $WLFI tradeable 'brings us one step closer to building a more open, transparent, and powerful financial system.' 'The American public should be very concerned about the president's vested interests in the cryptocurrency market,' said Chris Swartz, a former longtime attorney at the U.S. government's Office of Government Ethics, including under both Trump administrations, who now serves as senior ethics counsel for Democracy Defenders Action, a legal advocacy group. 'Not only is it a potential conduit for foreign emoluments and other illicit payments, but it puts the president in competition against other cryptocurrency issuers at the same time he is advocating for digital asset marketplace legislation. That is a clear conflict of interest.' 99.9% support The World Liberty proposal to 'formally initiate the tradability of the token,' posted on its website on July 9, was approved by 99.94% of around 20,900 votes. Some voters cited expectations of price gains or support for Trump as reasons for their choice. 'We invested to get rich,' one wrote on the World Liberty website. 'To make america great again,' wrote another. The identities of nearly all holders are hidden behind wallet addresses. A Milan-based person using the name Paolo, who declined to give his full name, told Reuters he had bought 95,000 $WLFI tokens for about $5,000. $WLFI tokens were sold in two initial tranches at $0.015 and $0.05. Paolo said he voted in favour of making the tokens tradeable and planned to hold the tokens until they reach $12. 'Then I try to buy more when the price drops,' he said. The World Liberty proposal said the timing for making the tokens tradeable, and the eligibility requirements, would be determined at a later, unspecified date. Tokens held by World Liberty's founders, team and advisers would not be initially 'unlocked' for trading and would be subject to a longer 'unlock schedule,' it said. The implementation of approved proposals would 'occur within a reasonable time from the passage of the applicable proposal,' according to the project description from October.
Business Times
17-07-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Trump's World Liberty crypto tokens to become tradable
[LONDON] Holders of the digital tokens issued by World Liberty Financial, one of the crypto ventures of the family of Donald Trump, voted on Wednesday (Jul 16) to make them tradeable, paving the way for their wide sale and purchase, potentially boosting the value of the president's holdings of them. The World Liberty tokens, known as $WLFI, were sold to investors after the Trump family and their partners launched the venture, a 'decentralised finance' platform that has also issued a stablecoin last autumn. The tokens were not made tradeable at their initial sale. Instead, they gave holders a right to vote on some changes to the business, such as its underlying code. Early investors have said the primary draw of $WLFI was the connection to Trump and, in turn, their expectations that the tokens would grow in value due to his backing. Making the tokens tradeable would see investors determine their price, enabling speculation, earning trading fees for exchanges that list them and likely stoking interest from a wider swath of crypto investors. The extent to which the Trump family, which reaps three-quarters of revenues from the initial sales of the tokens, will benefit from their wider trading is not clear. Gains in the tokens' price would, however, swell the value of the family's token holdings, the exact level of which is unclear. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up World Liberty and Trump's other crypto businesses have faced criticism from Democratic lawmakers and ethics experts as the president's administration reshapes regulations in the booming crypto sector. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren and Democratic Representative Maxine Waters sent a letter to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) earlier this year in which they said: 'The Trump family's financial stake in World Liberty Financial represents an unprecedented conflict of interest with the potential to influence the Trump Administration's oversight-or lack thereof-of the cryptocurrency industry.' The World Liberty tokens have not been designated as securities by the SEC, meaning they are not subject to the same scrutiny as investments such as stocks. The White House has said Trump's assets are in a trust managed by his children and that there are no conflicts of interest. The White House has not released the details of the trust arrangement. The Trump family business has been placed into a trust whose sole beneficiary is the president, meaning that the hundreds of millions of US dollars from crypto deals struck while Trump is in office could hypothetically be withdrawn at any time, or at the latest, be at his disposal when he leaves office in less than four years. Trump's company, DT Marks DEFI LLC, was set to receive 22.5 billion out of a total 100 billion $WLFI tokens, according to a description of the project released in October. The president held 15.75 billion of the tokens at the end of last year, according to a public financial disclosure report published last month. The Trump family has made around US$500 million from World Liberty since the platform was launched, according to Reuters calculations based on the company's terms and conditions, transactions traced by crypto analysis firms and publicly disclosed deals. Asked by Reuters how the vote would impact the value of $WLFI tokens held by Trump and his family, the White House press office said: 'This is not an inquiry for the White House.' The Trump Organization did not respond to a request for comment. In response to Reuters' questions about how the tokens will become tradable, a World Liberty spokesperson said: 'Additional details are forthcoming.' The venture says on its website that making $WLFI tradeable 'brings us one step closer to building a more open, transparent, and powerful financial system'. 'The American public should be very concerned about the president's vested interests in the cryptocurrency market,' said Chris Swartz, a former longtime attorney at the US government's Office of Government Ethics, including under both Trump administrations, who now serves as senior ethics counsel for Democracy Defenders Action, a legal advocacy group. 'Not only is it a potential conduit for foreign emoluments and other illicit payments, but it puts the president in competition against other cryptocurrency issuers at the same time he is advocating for digital asset marketplace legislation. That is a clear conflict of interest.' 99.9 per cent support The World Liberty proposal to 'formally initiate the tradability of the token', posted on its website on Jul 9, was approved by 99.94 per cent of around 20,900 votes. Some voters cited expectations of price gains or support for Trump as reasons for their choice. 'We invested to get rich,' one wrote on the World Liberty website. 'To make America great again,' wrote another. The identities of nearly all holders are hidden behind wallet addresses. A Milan-based person using the name Paolo, who declined to give his full name, said that he had bought 95,000 $WLFI tokens for about US$5,000. $WLFI tokens were sold in two initial tranches at US$0.015 and US$0.05. Paolo said he voted in favour of making the tokens tradeable and planned to hold the tokens until they reach US$12. 'Then I try to buy more when the price drops,' he said. The World Liberty proposal said the timing for making the tokens tradeable, and the eligibility requirements, would be determined at a later, unspecified date. Tokens held by World Liberty's founders, team and advisers would not be initially 'unlocked' for trading and would be subject to a longer 'unlock schedule', it said. The implementation of approved proposals would 'occur within a reasonable time from the passage of the applicable proposal', according to the project description from October. REUTERS
Economic Times
17-07-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
Trump's World Liberty crypto tokens to become tradable
Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Crypto TrackerPowered By TOP COINS TOP COIN SETS Ethereum 2,87,932 ( 6.93 %) Buy XRP 260.65 ( 4.21 %) Buy BNB 61,585 ( 3.8 %) Buy Bitcoin 1,01,79,886 ( 0.77 %) Buy Tether 86.01 ( 0.05 %) Buy Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads 99.9% SUPPORT Holders of the digital tokens issued by World Liberty Financial , one of the crypto ventures of the family of Donald Trump, voted on Wednesday to make them tradeable, paving the way for their wide sale and purchase -- potentially boosting the value of the president's holdings of World Liberty tokens, known as $WLFI, were sold to investors after the Trump family and their partners launched the venture - a "decentralised finance" platform that has also issued a stablecoin - last tokens were not made tradeable at their initial sale. Instead, they gave holders a right to vote on some changes to the business, such as its underlying code. Early investors have said the primary draw of $WLFI was the connection to Trump and, in turn, their expectations the tokens would grow in value due to his the tokens tradeable would see investors determine their price, enabling speculation, earning trading fees for exchanges that list them and likely stoking interest from a wider swath of crypto extent to which the Trump family, which reaps three-quarters of revenues from the initial sales of the tokens, will benefit from their wider trading is not in the tokens' price would, however, swell the value of the family's token holdings, the exact level of which is Liberty and Trump's other crypto businesses have faced criticism from Democratic lawmakers and ethics experts as the president's administration reshapes regulations in the booming crypto Senator Elizabeth Warren and Democratic Representative Maxine Waters sent a letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this year in which they said, "The Trump family's financial stake in World Liberty Financial represents an unprecedented conflict of interest with the potential to influence the Trump Administration's oversight-or lack thereof-of the cryptocurrency industry."The World Liberty tokens have not been designated as securities by the SEC, meaning they are not subject to the same scrutiny as investments like White House has said Trump's assets are in a trust managed by his children and that there are no conflicts of White House has not released the details of the trust arrangement. The Trump family business has been placed into a trust whose sole beneficiary is the president, meaning that the hundreds of millions of dollars from crypto deals struck while Trump is in office could hypothetically be withdrawn at any time, or at the latest, be at his disposal when he leaves office in less than four company, DT Marks DEFI LLC, was set to receive 22.5 billion out of a total 100 billion $WLFI tokens, according to a description of the project released in October. The president held 15.75 billion of the tokens at the end of last year, according to a public financial disclosure report published last Trump family has made around $500 million from World Liberty since the platform was launched, according to calculations based on the company's terms and conditions, transactions traced by crypto analysis firms and publicly-disclosed by Reuters how the vote would impact the value of $WLFI tokens held by Trump and his family, the White House press office said: "This is not an inquiry for the White House."The Trump Organization did not respond to a request for response to Reuters' questions about how the tokens will become tradable, a World Liberty spokesperson said: "Additional details are forthcoming." The venture says on its website that making $WLFI tradeable "brings us one step closer to building a more open, transparent, and powerful financial system.""The American public should be very concerned about the president's vested interests in the cryptocurrency market," said Chris Swartz, a former longtime attorney at the U.S. government's Office of Government Ethics, including under both Trump administrations, who now serves as senior ethics counsel for Democracy Defenders Action, a legal advocacy group."Not only is it a potential conduit for foreign emoluments and other illicit payments, but it puts the president in competition against other cryptocurrency issuers at the same time he is advocating for digital asset marketplace legislation. That is a clear conflict of interest."The World Liberty proposal to "formally initiate the tradability of the token," posted on its website on July 9, was approved by 99.94% of around 20,900 voters cited expectations of price gains or support for Trump as reasons for their choice. "We invested to get rich," one wrote on the World Liberty website. "To make america great again," wrote another. The identities of nearly all holders are hidden behind wallet addresses.A Milan-based person using the name Paolo, who declined to give his full name, told Reuters he had bought 95,000 $WLFI tokens for about $5,000. $WLFI tokens were sold in two initial tranches at $0.015 and $ said he voted in favour of making the tokens tradeable and planned to hold the tokens until they reach $12. "Then I try to buy more when the price drops," he World Liberty proposal said the timing for making the tokens tradeable, and the eligibility requirements, would be determined at a later, unspecified date. Tokens held by World Liberty's founders, team and advisers would not be initially "unlocked" for trading and would be subject to a longer "unlock schedule," it implementation of approved proposals would "occur within a reasonable time from the passage of the applicable proposal," according to the project description from October.
