A look back at the numerous initiatives of the American president who is all in on Bitcoin and other crypto-assets.
'I am not a fan of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which are not money and whose value is very volatile and based on nothing. Unregulated crypto-assets can facilitate illegal behavior, including drug trade and other illegal activities.'
The author of these lines is none other than Donald Trump in July 2019. In just six years, the American president has made a total turnaround to the point that he is now building a real family crypto empire. It is an opportunity for us to take stock of his initiatives that raise important questions of ethics and conflicts of interest.
The stablecoin
As Gizmodo details, the president and his associates notably created World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a cryptocurrency company last September, right in the middle of the election campaign. This company launched USD1, a digital token pegged to the U.S. dollar, which is now valued at $2.2 billion.
This initiative is extremely profitable for the billionaire and his sons Donald Jr., Eric, and Barron, as their company generated $57.4 billion just last year, according to a statement from June 2025 to the Office of Government Ethics (OGE).
Even better, the U.S. Senate has just adopted the Genius Act, a bill that will notably facilitate the widespread adoption of these stablecoins. This could significantly boost the revenue of World Liberty Financial.
Some opponents, like Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, do not hesitate to point out the enormous risks of conflicts of interest:
If Congress passes this bill, 1 USD will not only be a coercive tool to pay a corrupt president. It will be a financial instrument approved by the U.S. government. And this bill offers even more possibilities to reward Trump token buyers with benefits such as tariff exemptions, pardons, and government appointments.
Cryptocurrency mining
Not stopping there, the Trumps partnered last March with cryptocurrency mining company Hut 8 to launch American Bitcoin Corp. The openly stated idea is to establish themselves as a major player in mining.
This process is indeed essential for creating new bitcoins. It requires the activation of powerful processors that solve complex mathematical formulas and receive cryptocurrencies as rewards. This process is criticized for being energy-intensive.
But American Bitcoin Corp, of which Eric Trump is the Chief Strategy Officer, and which just went public last May, does not care. It already holds around $22 million in bitcoins and expects significant additional revenues in the coming months.
Memecoins: $TRUMP and $MELANIA
On the eve of his inauguration last January, Donald Trump and his wife launched two cryptocurrencies in their name. A particularly profitable operation that brought in $350 million in fees to their businesses, fleecing the president's fans, some of whom lost a lot of money, while a tiny minority of investors, on the contrary, recovered colossal sums.
ETF and NFT
Clearly addicted to blockchain, members of the Trump clan are also heavily betting on NFTs featuring the president. Recently, Trump Media & Technology also filed for the launch of an ETF that notably combines Bitcoin and Ether. If you are not familiar with this financial product, know that it is a publicly traded fund that allows easy investment in multiple assets without having to buy them directly.
An empire and major conflicts of interest
It is clear that the Trumps are continually exploring this particularly lucrative market. And, as Gizmodo rightly questions: 'Whether motivated by ideology, opportunism, or both, Trump's cryptocurrency empire raises serious ethical questions. As the president promotes policies likely to enrich his family's businesses, the line between governance and personal profit has never been blurrier.'
