Trump crypto token launch earns family billions

What happened

The Trump family's World Liberty Financial cryptocurrency token started trading publicly Monday, jumping in value then losing most of those gains as the day progressed.

The value of their cache of tokens still rose to about $5 billion, however, making it the family's "most valuable asset, exceeding their decades-old property portfolio," The Wall Street Journal said.

Who said what

World Liberty, launched during last year's presidential campaign, has thrived as President Donald Trump "drove the growth of the crypto industry from the White House," the Journal said. Critics say the company is a "potential vehicle to influence" Trump and that its growth has been "spurred by partners and investors who are seeking help from the White House," like crypto exchange Binance, whose "convicted founder has been seeking a presidential pardon."

World Liberty's management team — including the Trumps and CEO Zach Witkoff, the son of presidential envoy Steve Witkoff — cannot currently sell their tokens, the company said. But the Trump family was "still assured a considerable payday" of at least $500 million thanks to an "unusual insider arrangement" with an obscure Las Vegas-based firm, Alt5, The New York Times said. The White House said the president had no conflicts of interest.

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What next?

The "close corporate ties between Alt5 and World Liberty might have attracted an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission in the past," the Times said, but there has been no publicly disclosed reviews of the arrangement under the "crypto-friendly securities lawyer" Trump named to lead the agency.