Topline
Donald Trump has deepened his ties with Chinese billionaire Justin Sun—who’s fighting civil charges in the United States of fraud and market manipulation—as the president’s stablecoin begins minting on Sun’s blockchain, which hosted the largest share of illicit crypto activity last year, according to a crypto intelligence firm.
A cartoon image of President Donald Trump holding a Bitcoin token is displayed in Hong Kong in ... More
Trump and his family control about 40% of World Liberty Financial, according to its website—where he’s listed as chief crypto advocate—and in April, the firm launched a stablecoin, USD1, pegged to the U.S. dollar and backed by Treasuries and cash equivalents.
On June 11, Tron founder Justin Sun announced his blockchain had begun minting USD1, making the stablecoin native to his network.
World Liberty Financial earns interest on its USD1 reserves, so the more USD1 minted, including by Tron, the more the president’s company stands to profit, Molly White, a crypto researcher told Forbes.
In March 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed civil charges against Sun and his company, alleging market manipulation and selling unregistered securities; Sun has denied the charges and the judge paused the case at the request of both parties this February to allow time to discuss a possible settlement (a move that came just weeks after Sun invested $30 million in World Liberty Financial).
In 2024, Tron hosted 58% of all illicit crypto activity—the most of any blockchain and more than Ethereum and Bitcoin combined—“reflecting continued preference for blockchains that have low transaction fees, smart contracts, and popular stablecoins,” according to blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly told Forbes in a statement Trump has no conflicts of interest because his “assets are in a trust managed by his children”; a spokesperson for World Liberty Financial declined to comment; and spokespeople for Tron and the Trump Organization did not respond to inquiries.
Trump can earn income from his businesses while in office through the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, the same structure he used during his first term. He is its sole donor and beneficiary, while Donald Trump Jr. serves as the trustee. The Trump Organization confirmed in an April regulatory filing in the United Kingdom that Trump retains control over his businesses. As president, he has pledged to make the United States the “crypto capital of the world,” aligning with his expanding investments in digital assets. Sun, who has now invested a total of at $75 million in World Liberty Financial, has become an advisor to the company. In May, he toured the White House and dined with Trump at his D.C.-area golf club for being one of the top holders of the president’s meme coin, a separate crypto venture, according to social media posts.
$57.4 million: Trump’s income from World Liberty Financial in 2024, which only launched in September, according to a financial disclosure he released Friday.
“We've seen increased criminal use of stablecoins on the Tron blockchain, and I think the launch highlights how little is known about USD1 and World Liberty Financial's ability to thwart criminal activity,” White told Forbes. “There is very little transparency into how the project intends to grapple with this persistent problem, and whether they have the capacity to do so responsibly.”
While TRM Labs found “the largest percentage of illicit crypto activity occurred on the TRON blockchain” in 2024, Tron also “saw the most significant decline in illicit volume, dropping by $6 billion and halving its proportion of illicit volume.” TRM Labs credited the decline to Tron’s efforts to root out abuse, including collaborating with, yes, TRM Labs to establish what it calls the “first-ever private-sector financial crime unit.”
“The first USD1 minted on Tron—just the beginning of something much bigger,” World Liberty Financial’s X account posted in response to Sun’s announcement. “Appreciate the support, @justinsuntron. Let’s bring USD1 everywhere.”
In addition to Tron, two other crypto firms that announced relationships with World Liberty Financial in the past month also have faced scrutiny from U.S. authorities. In May, USD1 started trading on KuCoin, an exchange recently banned from the United States after admitting to anti-money laundering violations and agreeing to pay $300 million in penalties. It also launched on Binance, which admitted in a November 2023 plea deal with the Justice Department to anti-money laundering and sanctions violations, agreeing to pay $4 billion in penalties. (Days after USD1 launched on BInance, the SEC dropped a lawsuit it had brought against the firm.)
Tron is going public through a reverse merger with a toy manufacturer, SRM Entertainment, the companies announced on Monday. As part of the deal, SRM will raise $100 million to buy Tron tokens and issue $210 million in shares and warrants. SRM Entertainment will change its name to Tron Inc. and Sun will become an advisor. Sun shared a post claiming Eric Trump was expected to join the company, though Trump denied it, calling Sun a “great friend” but saying the report was “inaccurate.”
The Tron-SRM merger was brokered by Dominari Securities, whose parent company—Dominari Holdings—is partially owned by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. The brothers each hold more than 5% of the firm, largely in exchange for serving 10 weeks on an previously somewhat dormant advisory board that also includes three other Trump Organization executive vice presidents. Dominari Holdings CEO Anthony Hayes praised the advisory board’s work in a letter to shareholders.
On Tuesday, the Senate passed the Genius Act, a crypto industry-backed bill that would create new rules for stablecoins like USD1. In response to Trump’s crypto ventures, Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., introduced the End Crypto Corruption Act, which would ban presidents and other top officials from “issuing, endorsing or sponsoring crypto assets.” The bill is pending and has 24 co-sponsors.
Forbes estimates Trump’s net worth at about $5.2 billion, with crypto now accounting for most of his wealth. Sun is worth around $8.5 billion.
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