Donald Trump's family just made $5 bn, on a crypto they can’t even sell yet after a major crash

Despite a price drop, a controversial Trump family cryptocurrency has catapulted their paper wealth by $5 billion, further blurring the lines between politics, personal profit, and digital finance.

The token, WLFI, launched this week by World Liberty Financial — a crypto firm co-founded by Donald Trump and his sons Eric, Don Jr., and Barron — spiked to 40 cents before plunging 48% to 21 cents on Tuesday.

It later settled around 23 cents, according to CoinMarketCap.

The Trump family holds 22.5 billion WLFI tokens, now valued at roughly $5 billion on paper. However, their holdings remain locked and unsellable for now, according to the company.

WLFI is marketed as a governance token, giving holders voting rights over the company’s policies and its dollar-pegged stablecoin, USD1. But World Liberty Financial warns users not to treat the token as an investment, saying in its terms, “You should not acquire $WLFI… with an expectation of resale for a profit.”

Nic Puckrin, CEO of Coin Bureau, noted the price swing was “typical for new token launches” and said WLFI's structure offers “real governance rights,” which could distinguish it in a crowded crypto market.

Still, concerns are mounting. Over 20% of WLFI is held by insiders, though no single wallet can wield more than 5% of governance power, per company rules.

Trump, once a vocal crypto skeptic, has rebranded as a digital asset champion during his presidency, promising to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the world.” In July, he signed the Genius Act — the first federal crypto regulation — into law.

WLFI joins a growing list of Trump-linked crypto ventures, including meme coins $TRUMP and $Melania. One $TRUMP promotion in May offered dinner with the president to top holders, raising conflict-of-interest flags among watchdogs.

Meanwhile, Trump Media & Technology Group — parent of Truth Social — has lost 50% of its value this year and is now pivoting into crypto with a $2 billion investment.