WSJ: Trump family sees $6 billion paper wealth after crypto token debut

On September 1, the Trump family amassed as much as $6 billion in paper gains after their flagship cryptocurrency, WLFI, began trading publicly, marking the most significant financial windfall for the U.S. president’s family since his inauguration.

WLFI, issued by World Liberty Financial, can now be bought and sold on crypto exchanges, giving the Trump family’s holdings a market valuation for the first time, Caliber.Az reports, citing The Wall Street Journal.

The family, including President Donald Trump, holds just under a quarter of all WLFI tokens. Trump is listed as “Co-Founder Emeritus,” while his three sons are co-founders.

The company said founders’ tokens remain “locked,” meaning they cannot yet be sold, though the listing provides a benchmark valuation. At around 30 cents a token, the Trump stake is worth over $6 billion, according to CoinMarketCap data.

“This isn’t some meme coin,” Donald Trump Jr. said on social media after the launch.

Trading volume surged on September 1, with about $1 billion in WLFI tokens changing hands in the first hour. The tokens were priced far above the 1.5 cents paid by early investors, who are initially allowed to sell only part of their holdings.

WLFI is now likely the Trump family’s most valuable asset, surpassing their global property portfolio. World Liberty also runs a dollar-pegged stablecoin called USD1 and plans to release a mobile app.

President Trump helped launch the venture while campaigning last year, promoting crypto as a tool to make "America Great Again, this time with crypto.” His administration has cut regulations around the sector while encouraging private digital currencies.

Critics say World Liberty’s growth could give investors leverage over the White House. The Journal previously reported that the USD1 stablecoin market has been supported by Binance, whose founder is seeking a presidential pardon.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt rejected concerns, saying “neither the president nor his family have ever engaged, or will ever engage, in conflicts of interest.”

Zach Witkoff, World Liberty’s chief executive, said the company is strictly private and “doesn’t get involved in politics, though clearly President Trump is the greatest president of all time.”

“Its staying power is real because it’s designed to be the governance token of this new open economy,” said Tad Tobar, chief operating officer at crypto firm Lorenzo Protocol, a partner of World Liberty.

By Aghakazim Guliyev