WASHINGTON − A cryptocurrency token issued by the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial had a lukewarm opening on Sept. 1 with its value declining on the first day of trading.
Still, the president and his family may have amassed as much as $5 billion on paper from the offering, according to one analysis. The venture is backed by the Trumps and lists President Donald Trump as a “co-founder emeritus,”
The World Liberty tokens, known as $WLFI, were sold to investors last October. After Trump took office in January, his administration moved to ease regulation of the cryptocurrency industry.
Investors in the tokens voted in July to make them tradable, paving the way for their sale and purchase − and potentially boosting the value of the president’s holdings.
Monday’s launch was something like an initial public offering, enabling holders of the token to trade them like stocks or other financial instruments.
World Liberty Financial lists Trump’s three sons, Donald Jr., Eric and 19-year-old Barron as co-founders. Trump’s diplomatic envoy, Steve Witkoff, like Trump, is listed as a “co-founder emeritus” while his sons, Zach and Alex, are listed as co-founders.
The tokens are now being offered on some of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges.
On Binance, the first cryptocurrency exchange to list $WLFI, the token traded between about 30 cents and 20 cents each. At the higher price, the Trumps’ stake is worth more than $5 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. World Liberty, which aims to allow people to access financial services without intermediaries like banks, said in March that it had raised $550 million selling $WLFI.
While campaigning for president in 2024, Trump said he would be a “crypto president” promoting crypto-friendly polices in contrast to his predecessor, former President Joe Biden. He has said he’d make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the planet.”
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In July, Trump signed a landmark legislation package, known as the GENIUS Act, which creates a regulatory framework for stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency tied to the value of an asset like the U.S. dollar. World Liberty has a stablecoin called USD1.
In May, Trump hosted a dinner at his Virginia golf club for 220 investors who invested an estimated $148 million on the $TRUMP meme coin, with the top 25 holders being granted a private VIP reception with Trump. The move drew criticism from Democratic lawmakers and others about its ethical implications.
Contributing: Reuters
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House Correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump family’s crypto windfall could hit $5 billion