Trump White House ‘World’s Most Corrupt Crypto Startup Operation’: House Democrats

In brief A partisan report from the House Judiciary Committee Democrats has accused President Trump of using the White House to enrich himself and his family via crypto. The report alleges that Trump has removed consumer protections, solicited foreign investment and performed favors for the crypto industry, while making $800 million from sales of his company’s tokens in H1 2025. The report’s primary author, Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD), has called on Congress to defend the rule of law and expose Trump’s “grift.” Decrypt’s Art, Fashion, and Entertainment Hub. Discover SCENE Donald Trump and his family have used the presidency to make hundreds of millions of dollars from “cryptocurrency schemes,” according to a new partisan report from the House Judiciary Committee Democrats . Signed by Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the report attempts to document how President Trump has doubled his net worth since the beginning of his 2024 election campaign, primarily via the launching of cryptocurrency-related ventures and businesses. Citing investigations by Reuters , the report notes that Trump and his family made $800 million from cryptocurrency sales in the first half of 2025 alone, and that the total value of crypto and stocks held by the family now stands at $11 billion. The House Judiciary Committee Democrats also allege that much of this wealth has links to foreign nationals and even organized crime, in particular via ownership of the World Liberty Financial (WLFI) cryptocurrency. Addressing publicly identified investors in WLFI, the report says, “The most prominent example is Justin Sun, a Chinese-born crypto billionaire who founded the Tron cryptocurrency exchange that has been described as a haven for ‘illicit crypto activity.’” While Sun is the founder of Tron , it is a smart contract blockchain rather than an exchange—though Sun does have links to the crypto exchange HTX, billing himself as an "advisor" to the firm. Crypto industry "buying access" The report also suggests that ownership of Trump family tokens has opened up the White House to external influence and lobbying from foreign actors and the cryptocurrency industry. ​​”Foreign actors and corporate interests have been buying access and favors from the President and his Administration by funneling money into the Trump family’s cryptocurrency ventures and making large, politically motivated donations,” the report’s press release states. “In return, these financial backers have received swift returns: regulatory rollbacks, policy giveaways, and the quiet termination of federal investigations into major players in the crypto industry.”    These claims come in the wake of President Trump providing pardons for BitMex founder Arthur Hayes in March, and Binance founder Changpeng Zhao in October. They also come as the World Federation of Exchanges–an industry body representing major stock exchanges worldwide– has penned a letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission urging the regulator not to grant cryptocurrency firms exemptions from regulations in order to offer tokenized stocks. The report also notes that the Trump administration has terminated investigations into or cases against several major cryptocurrency companies, including Coinbase, Gemini, Robinhood, Ripple, Crypto.com, Uniswap, Yuga Labs and Kraken. Related to this, President Trump has dissolved the Department of Justice’s National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, while also repealing investor protection rules, such as the Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets executive order issued by his predecessor, Joe Biden. For the House Judiciary Committee Democrats, this far-reaching shift has enabled President Trump and his family “to accumulate billions of dollars in cryptocurrency in less than a year,” something which signals “glaring weakness” in the United States’ campaign finance systems and its laws related to lobbying, conflicts of interest and bribery. Summarising the partisan report, Raskin said that Trump has turned the “Oval Office into the world’s most corrupt crypto startup operation,” while dismantling regulations that protect retail investors. “This Report shows how Trump’s so-called ‘pro-crypto agenda’ is just one more Trump family self-enrichment plan, built on pay-to-play deals and corrupt foreign interests seeking secret channels of access and influence,” he said. “Congress must expose this dangerous grift, and defend the rule of law against the profiteers and criminals who would destroy it.” The White House has been contacted for comment. Daily Debrief Newsletter Start every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more. Your Email Get it! Get it!