WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump garnered significant revenue from cryptocurrency ventures following his return to the White House, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in fees even as many individual investors experienced substantial losses.
According to a recently released financial disclosure, Trump earned approximately $636 million in 2025 from a cryptocurrency memecoin known as $TRUMP, which saw its value plunge significantly after an initial surge. This digital token, featuring an image of Trump pumping his fist—as he did following a 2024 assassination attempt—has no intrinsic value and functioned largely as a speculative asset tied to Trump’s political influence.
Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis found that while 358 holders of the $TRUMP coin earned profits exceeding $10 million collectively, around 764,000 wallets—with mostly small investors—incurred losses as the token’s price collapsed. Despite this, Trump and his associates benefited through transaction fees collected on every trade, underscoring a structure that ensured profit at the front end regardless of the coin’s long-term performance.
Trump’s financial disclosure also highlighted substantial income from World Liberty Financial, a separate cryptocurrency company. In total, he earned nearly $800 million from this venture, including a notable stake purchase by the government of the United Arab Emirates timed closely to his return to office. The $WLFI coin issued by World Liberty suffered an over 80 percent decline in value, generating heavy losses for investors, though Trump’s entities reportedly received 75 percent of token sales, securing steady revenues irrespective of the coin's market performance.
Critics have raised concerns about the ethics of these arrangements. Lee Reiners, a former Federal Reserve Bank examiner at Duke University, described Trump’s crypto dealings as an unprecedented level of self-enrichment at the expense of supporters. John Reed Stark, a former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigator, referred to the situation as reminiscent of a “pump-and-dump” scheme, emphasizing the lack of regulatory safeguards for investors in memecoins. The SEC has declined to regulate such tokens as securities, a stance that some say has facilitated Trump’s and others’ lucrative opportunities in this market. A White House spokeswoman denied allegations of conflicts of interest, stating that all actions taken by Trump and his administration serve the American public’s best interests.
Beyond crypto, Trump’s 2025 earnings also stemmed from international business engagements, particularly in the Middle East, marking a shift from his previous administration’s approach to foreign dealings. His disclosure showed large investments in major technology firms involved in artificial intelligence, coinciding with a government move toward deregulating that sector. Trump has maintained he does not actively manage these investments, which are overseen by brokerage firms and advisers without his direct input.
Meanwhile, Melania Trump earned about $61 million from her own memecoin in 2025, though it was less successful than her husband’s venture. Trump has continued promotional efforts aimed at boosting his cryptocurrency’s value, including high-profile investor events at his properties. However, market enthusiasm has waned markedly, with the $TRUMP token losing approximately 80 percent of its value since its peak, leading some investors to declare the coin effectively obsolete.
As Trump’s crypto-related income outpaced his prior business earnings and far exceeded that of Vice President JD Vance, questions remain about the implications of such ventures for his political influence and the broader regulation of emerging digital assets.