Trump pocketed over $57mn from crypto coin sales

By AFP

US President Donald Trump pocketed more than $57 million from token sales by the crypto venture he and his sons helped launch last year, according to federal financial disclosure forms released by the White House.

The more than 230-page document issued by the Office of Government Ethics, dated Friday, lists the US president's holdings including stocks, dividends, real estate and investment portfolios.

It showed that Trump, who during his first presidential election campaign in 2016 broke with the long tradition of candidates publishing their income tax returns, raked in $57.4 million from the sale of World Liberty Financial tokens.

Trump and his sons helped launch the cryptocurrency investment and lending platform ahead of last year's election, raising conflict of interest concerns especially after he went on to win.

He lent his name to this new company and launched a "Trump" memecoin in January, just hours before his inauguration.

World Liberty Financial had issued 100 billion tokens, of which some 22.5 billion were allocated to the Trump-affiliated company DT Marks Defi.

Once hostile to the crypto industry, Trump has since returning to power enthusiastically embraced the sector, taking significant steps to clear regulatory hurdles and making large-scale investments.

Trump has, among other moves, appointed crypto advocate Paul Atkins to head the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

He has also established a federal "Strategic Bitcoin Reserve" aimed at auditing the government's bitcoin holdings, which were mainly accumulated by law enforcement from judicial seizures.

Cryptocurrencies now have "a champion and an ally" in the White House, Vice President JD Vance said last month during a bitcoin conference in Las Vegas.

The document also provides an overview of the royalties that Trump has received through the sale of branded products and licensing agreements around the world.

For instance, he earned $2.8 million from watches and $2.5 million from perfumes and sneakers.

His Mar-a-Lago club in Florida also generated over $50 million in income for the president.

Trump's golf courses around the world also helped pad his coffers, allowing him to pocket $29.1 million from the one in West Palm Beach, and $110.4 from the one in Miami.

The president also received a monthly retirement payment of $6,484 from the Screen Actors Guild (SAG).