Crypto and the Trump Administration
The Trump Administration is strongly pro-cryptocurrency. President Trump, his family, and members of his circle have major financial interests in crypto, creating conflicts of interest and putting Americans at risk. This Q&A contains what Americans should know about the administration’s relationship to cryptocurrency and why it matters to us.
WHAT IS CRYPTOCURRENCY?
Cryptocurrency, or “crypto,” is a digital representation of value that can be used like money. The money most of us are familiar with is issued by a government, and institutions like banks and credit card companies keep track of how much we have and when it is transferred. In contrast, crypto does not rely on these institutions. Instead, every crypto transaction is recorded in a “ledger” maintainedby networks of computers. That ledger, called a blockchain, is how the system can tell how much crypto each user has.
Cryptocurrencies were initially envisioned as a way to transfer value without relying on banks or governments, enabling online payments that are fast and borderless. Today, cryptocurrencies are used in several ways:
Payment and Money Transfers: People can use cryptocurrencies to buy goods and services, or to send money across borders quickly or cheaply.
Investment and Speculation: Many people buy crypto in the hope that its value will rise, like a stock.
“Digital Gold:” Some treat cryptocurrencies as a long-term store of value, like gold.
Pseudo-anonymity and Alternative Banking: Since crypto transactions identifyusers by digital addresses rather than real names, it can give users financial privacy. However, this may also be exploited by bad actors for illegal activities like black-market transactions, scams, and money laundering.
Some crypto systems capture value of things other than digital currency, like ownership in digital art, real estate, or other financial instruments. For example, you may have heard of Bored Ape Yacht Club, a collection of thousands of images of cartoon apes. Owners have traded ownership of these images for thousands and even millions of dollars. The ownership of these images is recorded as “non-fungible tokens” (“NFTs”) on a blockchain.
The first and most successful cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, was created in 2009. Thousands of others have emergedsince then. Today, the market for cryptocurrency is more than $2.75 trillion, not including the value of the technologies and tools that enable crypto development and use. Investors pour billions into technologies and tools related to crypto each year.
The crypto landscape is diverse. Some major types include payment cryptocurrencies (used as electronic cash), stablecoins (designed to maintain a stable value, combining the stability of traditional currency with the digital, borderless functionality of crypto), and memecoins, such as Dogecoin (inspired by Internet memes and having little practical use, but having potential value when traded). While most cryptocurrencies rely on similar foundational technology, they serve different purposes and may vary widely in risk and practical usefulness.
What’sthe relationship between cryptocurrency and traditional finance?
While cryptocurrency emergedas an alternative to traditional finance, which depends on governments, banks, and government-issued currencies, it is beginning to integrate with those systems. For example, many cryptocurrency users will still turn to banks to convert government-issued currency (like dollars) into crypto and back. This means crypto exchanges and companies often need bank accounts and payment partners, so crypto represents significant emerging business for traditional financial institutions. Those institutions are also starting to incorporate crypto technology, for example by implementing blockchains to improve speed and record-keeping. Although crypto has in some ways moved to the mainstream, some cryptocurrencies still compete with the dollar, posing risks to the dollar-backed financial system.
WHAT IS THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S RELATIONSHIP TO CRYPTOCURRENCY?
The Trump Administration’s relationship to cryptocurrency has two dimensions:
The Trump Administration’s relationship to the crypto industry
The Trump family’s personal crypto activities
What is the Trump Administration’s relationship to the crypto industry?
During his first presidency, Donald Trump was openly skeptical of cryptocurrencies. In July 2019, he said, “I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies,” arguing they are “not money” and highly volatile. He warned that unregulated crypto assets can facilitate illegal activity like the drug trade and asserted “We have only one real currency in the USA… It is called the United States Dollar!”
Some of the administration’s actions reflected this cautious view. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin repeatedly called for stricter oversight of crypto, and his department proposed a controversial rule which would have imposedbank-like recordkeeping on crypto transactions.
However, Trump’s attitude toward crypto shifted notably after he left office. By 2023, he had positioned himself as an explicitly pro-crypto candidate. His campaign not only started accepting donations in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, but it framed this as an ideological stance: a “boycott of socialistic government control” over finance. In parallel, the crypto industry launched significant lobbying efforts and political donations to pro-crypto candidates. The Trump campaign’s embrace of crypto earned strong supportfrom the crypto industry. For example, one pro-Trump PAC raised over $7.5 million in crypto donations within months. High-profile crypto investors like the Winklevoss twins publicly endorsed Trump, calling him “pro-bitcoin, pro-crypto” and backing that endorsement with donations.
In his second presidency, Trump has brought members of the crypto industry into the administration and his inner circle. He appointed venture capitalist and crypto investor David Sacks to be his AI and crypto czar. Marc Andreessen, another venture capitalist whose firm has $7.6 billion in committed capital to crypto investments, has been a close advisor, describing himself as an “unpaid intern” for the administration.
In March 2025, Trump hosted a Crypto Summit at the White House, bringing together leaders of top American crypto companies. Among the policies discussed at the summit were the creation of a US strategic crypto reserve made up of seized crypto assets, which would likely increase the value of the coins included. President Trump said he wanted to make “America the Bitcoin superpower of the world and the crypto capital of the planet.” The administration’s policy on crypto is expected to be highly favorable to industry investors, with an emphasis on eliminating regulation, including safeguards for retail investors and customers.An early sign is that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has already ruled that memecoins, like those issued by the Trump family, are not subject to regulatory oversight.
What are the Trump family’s activities in crypto?
In late 2021, the Trump family began launching its own digital assets. Melania Trump released an NFT collection called “Melania’s Vision.” A year later, Donald Trump entered crypto with “Trump Digital Trading Cards,” a series of NFTs. The collection sold out in about a day, netting roughly $4.5 million. He has since released more NFTs, each time giving people and organizations around the world the opportunity to directly enrich him, outside the view of campaign finance laws, ethics rules, or the American public.
In 2024, Trump and his sons were involved in the launch of the crypto platform World Liberty Financial. The platform has engaged both in purchasing crypto and in issuing its own tokens, raising hundreds of millions of dollars.
In January 2025, the Trump family launched and promoted the memecoins “$TRUMP” and “$MELANIA.” These coins led to enormous financial gain for the Trump family,both through the sale of coins and in the increased value of the coins they retained. According to financial disclosures, Trump-affiliated companies kept an 80% stake of the $TRUMP coin supply, releasing only 20% to trade publicly. The project is estimated to have netted $350 million for the Trumps, with the value of the coins retainedby the family in the tens of billions.
Together, the Trump family’s ongoing activities in crypto have been a source of enormous private financial gain and have provided them with a means of raising funds outside of traditional banks and regulation, including ethics rules for campaigns and public officials. These gains have happened at exactly the same time that Trump became very friendly to the crypto industry and received enormous financial and political support from it.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR ME?
What does it mean for my bank account?
As a rapidly-developing technology in the financial system, crypto is high-stakes. Crypto’s proponents herald the potential benefits of financial innovation, while other observers point to the risks to individuals, organizations, and the stability of the financial system.
Regulators need to get this balance right to avoid major harm to Americans. First, ordinary Americans used to traditional banking may not be ready for the risks of maintaining their own digital “wallets,” with risks ranging from the highly volatile swings in the value of crypto to the possibility of theft and scamswithout recovery. Second, if traditional banks feel pressure to adapt quickly, they may become more efficient and innovative but may also discard standard practices and safeguards too quickly, creating major risks of a systemic crash. Third, more cryptocurrency in the market could mean greater market volatility, through the risk of market contagion. Today, crypto markets are relatively self-contained, so when crypto prices experience bubbles and crashes, stock markets and banks don’tnecessarily follow. But as the crypto market grows and becomes more integrated, crypto market volatility could spill over into traditional finance, leading to greater ongoing turbulence.
When the president’s personal interests are heavily aligned with rising crypto prices, the likelihood of under-regulation increases and the prospects for financial instability grow. This concern may seem distant from your bank account, particularly if you do not trade in crypto. But your bank relies on stable markets to operate. The Financial Crisis of 2008 reminded Americans that chaos in one part of the economy can quickly spread through an interconnected financial system, with devastating consequences for everyone’s lives. That doesn’tmean we should stop innovating, but it does mean that getting this wrong could profoundly affect every American. If the President’s personal financial interests are at play, it may be impossible to get this right.
What does it mean for corruption of the American government?
For ordinary Americans, Trump’s activities in crypto mean that your interests could matter less to the President than the interests of others. That can have serious consequences for youwhen it comes to national security, to health, to education, to immigration, and to every other critical issuethe American government touches.
First, Trump’s activities in crypto create a plain conflict of interest. The President’s personal wealth, as well as that of members of his administration, will now substantially increase with any action he takes that increases the value of crypto generally or his assets specifically. For example, Trump might push for regulations that boost the value of $TRUMP and his other holdings, even when not in the public interest. The President’s actions to date, including the crypto reserve and crypto summit, can only be seen in light of the enormous financial gain he, his family, and his close associates will make from them.
But the risks extend much further. The President’s activities in crypto create serious risks of influence. Any individual, company, or government, including foreign and even hostile governments, can buy $TRUMP, $MELANIA, or other coins, effectively depositing funds in the President’s accounts. Because cryptocurrency can be traded on global exchanges without using real names, the public will never know, although the purchaser can notify the President secretly. Investors can then trade their contributions for favorable policies and executive actions (like pardons, tariff exemptions, or vetoes), classified information, and more. Foreign adversaries could hold large stakes and threaten to expose this fact, sell off the coins, or refuse to buy further coins, causing the President embarrassment or financial loss. He would then have to choose between taking action in the public interest – for example, in a war, in a diplomatic crisis, or in a trade negotiation - and losing an enormous portion of his own fortune and reputation. The privacy features embedded in cryptocurrency mean that there is often no way of knowing whether this has already happened. For example, as the President negotiates with foreign powers like Russia and China, Americans do not know if these nations have purchasedhis coins, how much they have purchased, or what they have demanded in exchange.
Here's an example. In 2023, crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun was sued by the SEC for civil fraud. In January 2025, Sun announced publicly that his companies had invested $75 million in World Liberty Financial, President Trump’s new crypto platform. Just weeks later, the SEC asked the court to pause the litigation against Sun. Sun announced his investment publicly, but others – again, including even foreign governments and adversaries – could notify the President privately. The public has no way of knowing.
Democracy depends on elected leaders being accountable to the law and to their constituents, and that accountability depends on transparency. That is why public officials normally put assets in blind trusts or divest to avoid even the appearance of abusing the public’s trust for profit. By contrast, President Trump’s use of crypto opens new possibilities for conflicts of interest and corrupt influence. In these circumstances, citizens cannot be certain that the administration’s policies and actions – on crypto or any other issue – were chosen for the public interest rather than for private gain. If Administration policy is shaped by secret contributions via crypto, Americans will suffer the consequences. If the stability of the financial ecosystem are undercut by the President’s crypto financial maneuvers, American taxpayers will foot the bill.
In summary, Donald Trump and his administration have become deeply committed to expansion of the crypto industry at the same time that they are making millions, and perhaps billions, of dollars in this market. Corrupt influence and conflicts of interest threaten the security and stability of the financial system and the integrity of every government action, putting all Americans at risk.
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Contributors:
Nick Pyati
Allison Stanger
Kinney Zalesne