Trump family's $1.4B crypto gain leaves retail with 80% losses

A financial disclosure published this week showed President Donald Trump and his family reported between $1.2 billion and $1.4 billion in cryptocurrency income for 2025. The same tokens that generated those gains lost more than 80% of their value from peak to trough, with retail investors absorbing the losses, Reuters reported.

The income came from two sources: governance tokens sold by World Liberty Financial, the DeFi platform the Trump family controls, and royalties from the $TRUMP meme coin launched days before the January 2025 inauguration. Reuters estimated total profit from WLFI governance tokens at about $1.4 billion since the 2024 election.

World Liberty Financial alone contributed $526 million to $635 million in token sales to the family, according to the disclosure. The Trump family holds roughly 60% of the venture, a stake that ensures they capture the majority of any token sale proceeds.

The $TRUMP meme coin generated about $635 million in royalties for the family in 2025. The royalty structure pays creators a cut of trading volume regardless of price. The token's market cap fell to roughly $394 million by mid-2026, a drop of about 98% from its peak.