Trump is accused of profiting $800 million through an encryption project, with a House report revealing suspicions of quid pro quo.

On November 24, members of the House Judiciary Committee's Democratic Party released a 27-page investigative report accusing President Trump of profiting over $800 million through encryption-related projects in the first half of 2025. The report details three major encryption businesses: World Liberty Financial, TRU meme coin, and Trump Media, and points out that at least nine companies that donated to or invested in Trump received regulatory exemptions. The report, titled “Trump, Encryption, and the New Era of Corruption,” directly addresses the “most blatant corruption in modern government” and could have a profound impact on the regulatory landscape of the encryption industry.

Analysis of the Encryption Business Landscape: From Governance Tokens to Meme Coins Wealth Accumulation

According to a report released by Democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee, Trump's encryption wealth landscape is primarily composed of three main pillars. World Liberty Financial, as the flagship project, launched the WLFI governance token in September 2024, raising $550 million through two issuances. The company also issued the USD1 stablecoin, which quickly grew to a market capitalization of $2.7 billion. Trump reported earning $57.3 million from this project in his 2024 financial disclosure. Such rapid growth is extremely rare in the traditional financial sector, but has become possible in the relatively loosely regulated encryption market.

On January 17, 2025, just three days before Trump's inauguration, the TRUMP meme coin was officially launched. Reports indicate that Trump controlled about 80% of the token's supply, raising concerns about market manipulation due to this highly concentrated ownership structure. The token's price once soared to a peak of $75, only to plummet 67% within a week, forming a typical “pump and dump” pattern. On-chain data analysis shows that 45 internal wallets profited $1.2 billion during this process, while over 700,000 retail investor wallets collectively lost $4.3 billion, a scale of wealth transfer that is also rare in the history of the encryption industry.

Trump's media involvement has further expanded its encryption influence. The company announced the establishment of a $2.5 billion “Bitcoin treasury” and purchased about $2 billion in Bitcoin-related assets. This strategy of deeply binding the listed company's balance sheet with cryptocurrency, although there are precedents in other technology companies, has raised unique concerns about conflicts of interest given Trump's concurrent public office status. Reports indicate that Trump's encryption assets now exceed “any single real estate asset in his portfolio,” marking a significant transformation in his wealth structure.

From the timeline perspective, there is a concerning correlation between the advancement of these encryption businesses and changes in regulatory policies. Just weeks after the launch of the TRUMP meme coin, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued guidance stating that meme coins are not subject to securities laws, and the timing of this policy shift has raised strong doubts from Democratic lawmakers. The report cites an unnamed expert as saying, “I have never seen such open corruption in any modern government.”

Trump three major encryption business key data

World Liberty Financial: WLFI token raised $550 million, USD1 stablecoin market value is $2.7 billion.

TRUMP Meme Coin: Trump controls 80% of the supply, price peaked at 75 USD, plummeted by 67%

Trump Media: $2.5 billion Bitcoin treasury, purchasing $2 billion in Bitcoin assets

Trump personal declared income: received $57.3 million from WLF

Retail investor losses: Over 700,000 wallets lost a total of 4.3 billion dollars.

The Hidden Connection Between Regulation and Investment: An Analysis of the Power-Money Exchange Model

The report reveals a clear “investment for regulatory leniency” model. Ripple donated $4.9 million to Trump’s inauguration, becoming the second largest donor. In August 2025, the SEC resolved its enforcement action against the company. When Trump announced the inclusion of Ripple in the federal encryption reserves, the token's value soared by 33%. This close temporal connection raised questions about whether policy decisions were unduly influenced.

Crypto.com established a partnership with Trump Media on March 24, and just three days later, the SEC dropped its investigation into the platform. This almost simultaneous business collaboration and regulatory easing has deepened skepticism about the independence of the Trump administration's decisions on encryption regulation. Equally noteworthy is that TRU founder Sun Yuchen invested $75 million in WLFI after Trump’s victory, while the SEC suspended its investigation into his fraud case in February 2025.

The structural changes in the regulatory system are also worth noting. The report points out that the Trump administration systematically weakened the encryption regulatory framework: the Department of Justice disbanded the national cryptocurrency enforcement team in April 2025; the SEC issued guidance weeks after Trump launched meme coins, stating that meme coins are not subject to securities laws; the Treasury Department lifted sanctions on Tornado Cash, a mixer that had been used by North Korean hackers. These policy changes coincided with the expansion of the Trump family's cryptocurrency business, raising questions about whether policy-making prioritized public interest.

Most notably, Trump granted a pardon to Binance founder CZ Zhao Changpeng in October 2025, who pleaded guilty to money laundering charges in 2023 as part of a $4.3 billion settlement agreement with Binance. Reports indicate that Zhao Changpeng and Binance had been promoting World Liberty Financial for months prior to the pardon. This connection between criminal pardons and business promotion is seen as one of the boldest moves in Trump's encryption relationships.

Concerns About Foreign Capital Infiltration: Balancing National Security and Interests Challenges

The report expressed national security concerns regarding foreign capital, particularly investments from entities in China and the UAE. The Aqua 1 Foundation is a mysterious fund based in the UAE that announced the purchase of $100 million WLFI tokens in June 2025. Congressional staff were unable to verify the legitimate existence of the company in the UAE records, and this lack of transparency raised questions about the ultimate source of the funds.

The co-founders of the fund include Zhou “Bobby” Guanqun, who is currently under investigation for money laundering in the UK, and Li David, who seems to have connections with the Chinese state-owned enterprise China National Petroleum Corporation. This association with foreign subjects of investigation and state-owned enterprises raises concerns at the national security level. More notably, MGX—an Emirati sovereign wealth fund controlled by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan—invested $2 billion in Binance using World Liberty's USD1 stablecoin.

At the time of this transaction, the UAE was negotiating with the White House to obtain advanced American AI chips. Trump subsequently fired six National Security Council officials who opposed the chip deal due to concerns about technology transfer to China. Democrats argued that this violated the Foreign Emoluments Clause, which prohibits the president from receiving payments from foreign governments. This intertwining of foreign policy decision-making with personal business interests poses an unprecedented ethical challenge.

From the perspective of the encryption market, the large-scale inflow of foreign capital not only provides liquidity but also brings regulatory complexities. As a medium for cross-border capital flows, the regulatory transparency of stablecoins is crucial for preventing money laundering and sanction evasion. The report questions the use of the USD1 stablecoin in foreign investments, especially when its issuer has close ties to the Trump family.

Reconstruction of the Encryption Regulatory System: Weakening of Law Enforcement and Policy Shift

The structural changes in the encryption regulatory framework by the Trump administration have raised profound concerns. The decision by the Department of Justice to disband the national cryptocurrency enforcement team has weakened the ability of federal authorities to investigate cryptocurrency-related crimes. This team was established in 2021 specifically to investigate complex cryptocurrency crime cases, including money laundering, ransomware, and exchange hacking incidents. Its disbandment comes at a time when the number of cryptocurrency crime cases is on the rise, raising questions about the shift in law enforcement priorities.

The SEC's shift in its stance on meme coins is particularly noteworthy. Before the agency released guidance stating that meme coins are not subject to securities laws, its chairman Gensler had publicly asserted multiple times that most cryptocurrencies should be considered securities. This policy reversal occurred just weeks after the launch of the TRUMP meme coin, making the timing hard to overlook. Legally, the regulatory classification of meme coins has been a gray area in the encryption industry, and the SEC's clear statement may create a more lenient environment for similar projects.

The Treasury Department's lifting of sanctions on Tornado Cash also has significant implications. This encryption mixer was widely used by North Korean hackers and was sanctioned in 2022 for allegedly laundering money for the North Korean Lazarus Group. The decision to lift the sanctions has raised concerns among national security experts, who believe it could undermine the United States' toolbox for combating illegal finance. However, privacy advocates have praised the decision, viewing it as a protection of financial privacy rights.

The pardon of Binance founder CZ may be the most controversial regulatory-related decision. Zhao Changpeng pleaded guilty in 2023 to violations of anti-money laundering laws, and Binance paid a fine of $4.3 billion, one of the largest enforcement actions in the cryptocurrency space. Pardoning a major exchange founder who has pleaded guilty to financial crimes sends a complex signal to the crypto industry about the importance of compliance.

Public Perception and Political Influence: Information Gaps and Trust Crisis

Despite the enormous sums involved, the report indicates that 60% of the American public has never heard of the Trump family's encryption business. This information gap is particularly significant at the political level—nearly half of Trump voters believe he has not profited from his presidency, while a third think he has earned less than $100 million. This massive disparity between perception and reality reflects the current state of political polarization and the fragmentation of the information environment in the United States.

From a historical perspective, the conflict between a president's business interests and public office is not a new phenomenon. However, the global nature, anonymity, and technical complexity of encryption assets provide a new dimension to such conflicts. Traditional business assets like real estate and stocks have ownership and transactions that are relatively easy to track, while cryptocurrency transactions may obscure their flow through decentralized exchanges and mixers, increasing the difficulty of regulation and oversight.

The public's understanding of encryption currency also affects their reaction to the matter. A survey by the Pew Research Center in 2025 showed that only 28% of American adults reported having a basic understanding of encryption currency, and this knowledge gap may make it difficult for the public to fully grasp the scale and nature of Trump's encryption business. At the same time, the encryption industry itself has a divided attitude towards regulation, with some participants advocating for stricter compliance standards, while others firmly oppose government intervention.

From a global perspective, this event may affect the United States' leadership in formulating encryption regulatory standards. International organizations such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) have been advocating for unified global encryption regulatory standards, while domestic political disputes in the United States may weaken its influence in these forums. The European Union has established a comprehensive regulatory framework for crypto assets through the MiCA regulation, while the regulatory environment in the United States remains fragmented.

When political power intertwines with the rapidly developing encryption industry, Trump's story of an $800 million encryption fortune transcends personal interests, becoming a touchstone for examining the ability of modern democratic systems to respond to technological complexities and conflicts of interest. This House report reveals not only the president's personal business operations but also an emerging regulatory vacuum—where technological innovation, financial interests, and political power are engaged in a complex dance lacking transparency. For the encryption industry, this controversy may accelerate its painful transition from the margins to the mainstream, forcing it to reassess its ethical foundations and social responsibilities under public scrutiny. Historical experience shows that any emerging technology can only truly change the world after establishing broad social trust, and the establishment of trust often begins with transparent operations in the sunlight.