The New Yorker has just published an in-depth piece setting out exactly how much money Donald Trump and his family have made from crypto. It’s been done before — but now, concerns are being raised that the president’s pro-Bitcoin stance could prompt an aggressive clampdown when, and if, the Democrats return to power.
It’s fair to say that the author, David D. Kirkpatrick, is pretty skeptical about digital assets to begin with. He explains that the Trumps gravitated toward crypto after being de-banked by major financial institutions following the Capitol riot, with the family even treating this as an act of revenge.
Eric Trump is described as a “booster” of crypto who struggles to explain what it’s good for — except for maybe speeding up the process of getting mortgages. But Molly White, one skeptic quoted in the piece, says the main appeal tends to involve “getting around anti-money laundering laws and other regulations.”
The author goes on to chronicle Donald Trump’s evolution from someone who described Bitcoin as a “scam,” to an avowed enthusiast raking in millions by launching his own NFT collections. He’s also hugely critical of World Liberty Financial, arguing none of its executives have a successful track record in DeFi.
Kirkpatrick asserts that WLF’s only edge lies in how Trump was elected to the presidency. While many members of the Trump family are named as being involved, the piece claims that the only thing of value they contributed may have been their name — and in return, they received “millions of tokens” that can be unloaded.
Connections are drawn with the TRON founder Justin Sun, who bought $75 million of WLF soon after the election campaign. It’s noted the Securities and Exchange Commission later put the cases it had against Sun on hold pending a resolution, with the Trumps making an estimated $412.5 million from this venture alone.
Elsewhere, alarm bells are raised over World Liberty’s decision to launch the new stablecoin USD1 — with the ruling family of the United Arab Emirates buying $2 billion worth in what’s described as an “obvious conflict of interest.”
“It was equally significant that the Emiratis planned to use USD1 as payment for a stake in Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange.”
Given how Binance is now being monitored by the U.S. government as part of a ruling against the exchange and Changpeng Zhao, Kirkpatrick illustrates how the purchase could cause extreme headaches going forward, especially considering CZ has applied for a presidential pardon.
“Binance will now determine when to cash in the $2 billion dollars in stablecoin from the Emiratis … that gives CZ leverage over the Trumps.”
Kirkpatrick goes on to outline how Eric and Donald Trump Jr. have been vocal proponents for Bitcoin at major conferences — telling consumers to buy as much as possible because even a small amount could be worth “an absolute fortune.” Arguing that this is dangerous and reckless, the author adds:
“If Bitcoin crashes, ordinary Americans who heeded the Trump brothers’ advice to buy as much as possible could lose their savings.”
That’s not all. The piece dwells on how Trump Media is launching crypto ETFs, the controversy surrounding $TRUMP meme coins, and the glitzy dinner that was held for those who held the most tokens.
What’s been especially interesting about this has been the reaction on X. Troy Cross, a fellow at the Bitcoin Policy Institute, put it in stark terms:
“Trump has made ‘crypto,’ including Bitcoin, toxic to much of America. We need a concerted educational effort to distinguish Bitcoin from scams and broaden Bitcoin’s appeal to avoid backlash in the next regime.”
Others went on to warn that sentiment toward Bitcoin and the wider crypto industry is “extremely negative” — especially because of Trump’s involvement — and this could spark a backlash should the Democrats return to the White House. This is especially true when it comes to plans for a strategic Bitcoin reserve, with fears that any coins held in a stockpile would be rapidly sold off.
Of course, there is a fair share of criticism for The New Yorker, with some claiming that the publication has failed to educate itself on Bitcoin. But given the magazine alleges that Trump and his immediate family have profited to the tune of $3.4 billion within the first seven months of this presidency, there is a much bigger issue at play.
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