A Bloomberg investigation published May 12 found that members of the Trump family made roughly $1.55 billion from sales of the crypto token World Liberty Financial (WLFI). That lifted their total fortune by about $660 million after accounting for previously undisclosed transactions. Early retail investors remain locked out of 80% of their holdings as WLFI trades near all-time lows — around $0.06, an 85% drop from its peak of $0.46.
$1.55 billion in sales, 80% locked
The analysis, pulled from blockchain data platform Tokenomist.ai, shows that Trump-affiliated entities sold billions of tokens through both public rounds and private placements that were never publicly disclosed. After World Liberty Financial closed its two public fundraising rounds, it sold an additional 5.9 billion tokens to accredited private investors — deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The project's governance disclosures show that DT Marks DEFI LLC, a Trump-affiliated entity, is entitled to 75% of all WLFI token sale proceeds after agreed reserves and expenses. Trump-affiliated parties also hold 22.5 billion WLFI tokens directly.
Private sales and the Trump entity's cut
The structure of those private sales is drawing scrutiny. World Liberty confirmed the transactions to Bloomberg, calling them “white glove” deals with private purchasers, but declined to name the buyers or say where the money went. The project was co-founded by members of the Trump and Witkoff families, with Zach Witkoff as CEO. Donald Trump and Steve Witkoff were listed as co-founder emeritus on the website — though that page has since been removed.
Justin Sun’s lawsuit and the Dolomite loan
Justin Sun, the Tron founder and a major WLFI investor, filed suit against the venture in April in San Francisco federal court. He alleges extortion and an illegal scheme to seize his tokens. The co-founders deny those claims. Separately, World Liberty deposited 5 billion of its own WLFI tokens into Dolomite, a decentralized lending protocol whose co-founder also holds a role at World Liberty. Against those tokens, the project borrowed roughly $75 million in stablecoins. Critics argue this lets insiders convert holdings to cash without waiting for unlock periods.
Conflict of interest and unanswered questions
Eswar Prasad, a professor at Cornell University, said the Trump family is profiting from a financial venture with glaring conflicts of interest in a way that blocks other investors from sharing in the gains. The timing isn't great for retail holders who bought in during the public rounds — they're stuck with tokens down 85% and no clear path to sell. World Liberty has not disclosed the identities of the private buyers who got in after the public rounds closed, nor where the hundreds of millions in proceeds were directed. That gap remains the biggest unresolved question from Bloomberg's report.
