Mapping Trump’s Crypto Empire: A Multi-Billion Dollar Kingdom Built in Just Six Months
There’s an amusing report — former U.S. President Donald Trump has often been spotted with bruises on his hand. And on July 15 local time, during another interview, Trump was again photographed with concealer applied to the back of his hand. Responding to this, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the bruises were caused by Trump’s frequent handshakes.
This minor incident sparked a wave of online speculation: some thought the bruises came from IV injections; others suspected Trump might be suffering from a vitamin deficiency. More amusingly, in the crypto community, people accepted Leavitt’s explanation and added their own theory — that Trump has been shaking too many hands simply because his crypto empire is expanding too fast and keeping him too busy.
What started as a trivial event turned interesting because of the internet’s theories — and the crypto community’s wild yet oddly insightful take revealed a very real topic hiding in plain sight: Trump’s crypto empire has grown at lightning speed in just a few months.
Whether it’s NFTs, stablecoins, meme tokens, Bitcoin reserves, or exchange partnerships — the Trump family’s crypto asset layout has expanded from simple digital collectibles into a sprawling multi-sector empire. According to the latest reports, the Trump family has earned over $600 million in cash this year from token sales alone, and holds a multi-billion-dollar portfolio of crypto-related investments.
This isn’t just about wealth accumulation — it marks a powerful convergence of capital, politics, and the crypto world. In this article, we’ll break down the Trump family’s crypto empire, its logic, and the potential far-reaching implications.
Starting with NFTs: The Trump Digital Trading Card Frenzy
Trump’s crypto journey began in December 2022 with the launch of Trump Digital Trading Cards, an NFT series issued on the Polygon PoS chain. The initial batch of 45,000 cards, each priced at $99, sold out within hours, generating $4.4 million in first-day revenue.
Since then, Trump has released three sub-series, totaling hundreds of thousands of unique digital cards. While officially described as non-investment collectibles unrelated to Trump’s political campaigns, these NFTs come with real-world perks for holders:
Dinner with Trump at Mar-a-Lago;
Memorabilia made from the suit he wore during a “KO” debate performance;
Free limited-edition Trump sneakers.
The secondary market has also been booming. Platforms like OpenSea charge 10% royalties on these trades, allowing the Trump family to continuously profit. This project didn’t just boost attention for NFTs — it became Trump’s breakout moment in crypto.
World Liberty Financial (WLFI): Building a Crypto-Style “Presidential Fund”
If NFTs were Trump’s trial run, World Liberty Financial marked his formal entry into crypto capital markets. WLFI is essentially an investment DAO holding nearly $200 million in crypto assets — including stablecoins, BTC, ETH, and altcoins like TRX, ONDO, and MOVE.
In March 2025, WLFI launched its own USD-pegged stablecoin called USD1, backed by short-term U.S. Treasuries and custodied by BitGo. USD1 has since reached a market cap of $2.2 billion, ranking seventh globally among stablecoins.
It’s worth noting that the Trump family directly owns 22.5 billion WLFI tokens, and through WLF Holdings LLC, also holds 40% of the protocol’s development entity — entitling them to 75% of the token sales revenue. WLFI has thus become a critical cash flow engine in Trump’s crypto empire.
But issues are emerging. Initially marketed as a lending protocol, WLFI now looks more like a family investment fund. Some have questioned the project’s lack of substantive progress. Currently, WLFI tokens are open only to accredited investors with strict KYC procedures to avoid regulatory risks.
Meme Token Play: TRUMP and MELANIA Coins
In January 2025, the Trump family jumped on the meme coin bandwagon with TRUMP and MELANIA tokens. Despite largely downward price trends, these tokens have generated short-term surges fueled by headlines and hype.
In late April: Trump invited 220 TRUMP coin holders to a private dinner, sending the price soaring.
In June: Eric Trump announced WLFI would buy a large amount of TRUMP coins for the U.S. Treasury — prices jumped 10%.
Both tokens are now tradable on Uniswap and major centralized exchanges like Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, and Robinhood. For the Trump family, these aren’t just branding tools — they’re vehicles for community engagement and liquidity generation.
Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT): From Social Platform to Crypto Conglomerate
DJT is arguably the most ambitious division of Trump’s crypto empire. Its flagship platform Truth Social, launched in 2021, has become the Trump camp’s main communication hub.
In March 2024, DJT went public via a SPAC merger with Shanghai-based ARC Capital. Listed on Nasdaq under ticker “DJT”, the company has since pivoted toward crypto:
In May 2025: Raised $2.5 billion from 50+ institutional investors to build a Bitcoin reserve vault;
In early June: Filed a $12 billion follow-on offering to become the world’s second-largest crypto reserve holding firm, just behind MicroStrategy;
Partnered with Crypto.com to launch Truth.Fi, a crypto finance platform;
Filed with the SEC for three “Made in America”-themed crypto ETFs;
On July 9: Truth Social introduced a subscription package offering functional tokens for ecosystem use.
This signals DJT’s transformation from a social media firm into a “media + crypto” dual-engine tech enterprise.
American Bitcoin: Building an Industrial-Scale BTC Reserve
In mining, the Trump family is rising fast through American Bitcoin, a joint venture between Hut 8 and a U.S. data center operator — with Eric Trump as Chief Strategy Officer.
Founded in March 2025, the company quickly made bold moves:
Purchased $23 million in Bitcoin in June;
Raised $220 million via private placements to expand reserves and acquire mining rigs.
Leveraging Hut 8’s mining expertise and Trump family capital, American Bitcoin is well-positioned to become one of the world’s largest BTC reserve holders.
Metaplanet: A Cross-Border Crypto Asset Strategy
Japanese hotel holding company Metaplanet is the Trump family’s crypto springboard into Asia. Since its 2024 transformation into “Asia’s top crypto reserve platform”, the firm has acquired 8,888 BTC worth over $1 billion.
In March 2025, Eric Trump joined Metaplanet’s strategic advisory board, bringing in international capital and policy influence. The company has creatively used options sales and bond financing to accumulate BTC at low cost.
TRON Inc.: The Sun Yuchen–Trump Crypto Crossover
In June 2025, toy manufacturer SRM Entertainment announced it was raising $210 million to purchase TRX and would rebrand as TRON Inc.. Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump joined its advisory board.
After acquiring an initial $100 million in TRX, SRM staked it on JustLend, earning up to 10% APR. While the Trump family hasn’t directly invested, this collaboration with Justin Sun adds yet another branch to their expanding crypto ecosystem.
Conclusion
Under Trump’s lead, the U.S. crypto market has entered a golden era of “policy support + capital power.” His family’s investments — spanning NFTs, stablecoins, BTC reserves, and crypto ETFs — cover virtually every key sector of the crypto landscape.
But this raises new questions:
Is there enough policy transparency?
Will family wealth influence policymaking?
How sustainable is Trump’s crypto empire?
Whatever the answers, one thing is certain: Trump has brought crypto from Wall Street’s fringes to the core of America’s political and economic agenda. And this “crypto revolution” he’s driving may determine the U.S.’s standing in the global digital asset race for years to come.
