From the White House to the crypto world: Trump's $2.4 billion secret encryption empire

Source: COUNTERPUNCH

Author: Matthew Stevenson

Compiled by: BitpushNews

Original title: Trump’s Crypto-Card Monte

"We must make a choice. We can have democracy, or we can allow wealth to be concentrated in the hands of a few, but we cannot have both at the same time." ——This famous saying is believed to have originated from U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis, and it is often quoted by journalists and editor Lewis Lapham in the last year of his life (2024).

On June 13, 2025, to comply with the regulations of the Office of Government Ethics (OGE), which has the motto "Preventing Conflicts of Interest in the Executive Branch," U.S. President Donald Trump submitted his Personal Financial Disclosure Report (OGE Form 278e).

Theoretically, he responded to all disclosure requirements for non-government income (over $200), assets (over $1,000), and external income (over $5,000). However, in practice, Trump submitted a dense statement document spanning 234 pages, and this "information dump" approach was clearly intended to create confusion, distracting from the fact that his presidency has become a monument to conflicts of interest.

undisclosed "crypto gift"

In the "Gifts (valued over $480)" section of the report, Trump did not write: "Anonymous benefactors in the crypto industry secretly funneled millions of dollars to me by purchasing my $TRUMP Meme coin, just as the board and management of Trump Media & Technology Group, which I personally appointed, gifted me shares in the company worth billions of dollars without any consideration."

Regarding the crypto-related portion, Trump only reported $1.057 million in "NFT licensing income," noting that it is "difficult to assess its value." However, in other parts of the report, he disclosed an income of $57.355 million from another crypto company, World Liberty Financial Inc.

This number sounds quite substantial, but a survey by Forbes shows that in just the past nine months, Trump has made $390 million from the sale of World Liberty tokens and $315 million from the sale of his own meme coins—both of these massive incomes were not disclosed in financial reports.

We might as well call the difference between these two sets of numbers "rounding in the accounting sense."

operates like a hedge fund.

According to this disclosure document, Trump is still that "ordinary billionaire real estate developer" who owns hotels, office buildings, apartments, and golf courses across the United States and abroad.

But in the 234 pages of details, he treated the presidency like a hedge fund, with himself as the sole general partner, while his supporters—those MAGA diehards who frantically bought his tokens and sneakers—became the infinitely blood-supplying investment sub-funds.

The report is vague about the investors who injected billions of dollars into Trump Media or the real money providers behind the crypto "Three Card Monte" game.

Power and Shares: Dual Control

In the "Positions Held Outside Government by the Declarant" section, Trump listed only five positions, of which only the Mar-a-Lago Club and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts are still active.

He stated that his role as Chairman and Director of the Trump Media and Technology Group ended on March 22, 2024, when the company completed its reverse merger with Digital World, which had approximately $230 million in cash.

He wrote nonchalantly in the disclosure: through the merger and the distribution of some "Earnout Shares", he held a total of 114.75 million shares of Trump Media, accounting for more than 52% of the total circulating share capital at that time, thereby controlling this listed company.

These shares are held by the "Trump Revocable Trust" established by Trump on April 7, 2014. However, considering that the majority of the board members of TMTG are either members of the Trump family or his confidants (such as Donald Trump Jr. and Devin Nunes), it is unlikely that this board can operate independently.

In May of this year, the "Insider Board" voted to issue 57.01 million new shares at a price of $25.72 per share, diluting Trump's stake to 41% and raising approximately $1.44 billion. At the same time, the company also issued $1 billion in convertible bonds—these bonds not only pay no interest but can also be converted into common stock at a price of $34.72 per share (when the stock price was $18.50).

Even more shocking is that the company invested $2.44 billion in the Bitcoin market and applied for a Bitcoin ETF, completely deviating from its original business positioning of "challenging traditional social media like Facebook."

President's Private Placement Feast

In other words, Trump became the first U.S. president to raise $2.4 billion from about 50 individuals and funds through his own controlled company while in office. Just before completing this financing, he had just hosted a "$TRUMP Largest Holder Dinner," inviting the investors who held the most of the Meme coin.

However, it should be noted that the "holder list" for this dinner is likely fabricated. Due to the anonymity of cryptocurrency wallets, it is impossible to accurately identify the actual beneficiaries of these Meme coins. Moreover, the "crypto brothers" who truly became wealthy from $TRUMP actually cashed out as early as January 20, 2025 - the day Trump was inaugurated, when the coin price surged.

Players in the meme coin market are never the "diamond hands" long-term holders, but rather the "rug pullers" who excel at short-term harvesting. Therefore, those sitting at the dinner are not steadfast supporters, but rather the winners who have just completed their harvest.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was under its jurisdiction during Trump's tenure, yet did not require Trump Media to disclose the true identities of these investors. Such "turning a blind eye" can be seen as a dangerous signal for voters concerned about ethics and institutional health.

"Compensation terms"? Now it's just a decoration.

The "Emoluments Clause" of the U.S. Constitution theoretically states: "No person holding a paid office or trust under the United States shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind from any king, prince, or foreign state."

However, this clause has now become a historical relic, just like the prohibition of insider trading. In today's crypto world (especially in the realm of Meme coins like $TRUMP and $MELANIA), fundraising channels are often set up in overseas tax havens, and trading activities are frequently based on non-public information and internal "pre-heating."

According to blockchain analysis of $TRUMP related wallets, a few insiders, including the Trump family, profited from trading before and after the token issuance, while as many as 764,000 wallets lost money speculating on this "crypto president."

As Paul Newman’s character Henry Gondorff said to a broke gambler in the movie "The Sting": "Don't be sad, brother. If you weren't a fool, they wouldn't let you in to play at all."

The true financial situation of Trump Media

There are a few notable "smokescreens" in Trump's financial disclosure report.

First, there is a recurring statement: "Underlying assets: 114,750,000 shares of common stock [subject to lock-up period]". However, in fact, this so-called "lock-up period" expired back in September 2024.

The report implies that these shares are still in a "locked state," as if Trump is unable to operate freely in the market, appearing to be under some regulatory constraints, while in reality, there are no such restrictions at all.

For Trump, this is simply a reappearance of the "Gilded Age" of the 1890s—while he himself plays the dual roles of President McKinley and Wall Street tycoon.

estimated equity value

The second sleight of hand is that the report only states that his stake in Trump Media is "worth more than $50 million," but does not mention the actual valuation.

As of the report submission date, the market value of that portion of shares was approximately $2.3 billion (although it has halved from $4.6 billion on January 20, 2025, the day he took office).

Please note: Trump himself did not invest or put in any capital into any physical assets, yet he built his wealth from scratch, owning 114.75 million shares of Trump Media and having billions of dollars in paper wealth.

All he "paid" was merely a promise to post some social media content on the Truth Social platform, lasting only "six hours."

The returns obtained are: control of the company, status as the largest shareholder, and complete control over the management and the board of directors.

The shadow of the pyramid scheme

This financial disclosure also omits the fact that Trump Media is essentially a pyramid scheme disguised as a media company—its operational logic is quite similar to Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme.

In the first quarter of 2025, Trump Media reported revenue (note that it is revenue, not profit) of $821,000, while the operating loss reached $32 million.

In 2024, the company's total revenue was 3.6 million dollars, while the net loss reached 401 million dollars.

According to the cash on hand and the balance sheet status, the "reasonable stock price" of Trump Media is around $3 to $4 per share. However, the market is willing to buy at a 6 times premium at that price, simply because investors believe "Trump can turn water into gold."

Who will pay for this company?

The question arises: who would spend 6 dollars just to buy 1 dollar worth of Bitcoin or Ethereum on Trump's books?

Who would willingly invest in this company at a high premium? Especially when it has no clear business model, incurs losses year after year, and lacks operational logic?

The answer is obvious – only those who are willing to "exchange money for access," those "quasi-sponsors" who want to exchange investment for political returns, policy favors, or presidential attention.

The essence of Trump Media has never been a media platform or social product; its only "core business" is selling access to interactions with the President of the United States—currently through issuing additional shares, and in the future through investments in Bitcoin.

From Challenge Media to Dedicating to Crypto: The Business Maze of Trump Media

Trump Media's initial positioning was to challenge the so-called "traditional media"'s dominance over speech, particularly targeting tech giants like Alphabet (Google), Meta (Facebook), and X (formerly Twitter), claiming to create a "safe haven for free speech" for the MAGA camp.

But in the end, this business plan only resulted in a series of shareholder lawsuits and hundreds of millions of dollars in operating losses.

In multiple documents submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Trump Media self-describes its company mission as follows: "The mission of Trump Media is to end the suppression of free speech by large tech companies and to restore the people's voice through an open network. Trump Media operates Truth Social—a secure platform for free expression—and has launched Truth+, a streaming service that offers family-friendly live channels and on-demand content. Additionally, the company plans to launch Truth.Fi, a 'America First' investment brand that integrates financial services and financial technology."

Sounds grand and ambitious, as if preparing to build a "conservative Netflix + Robinhood + Twitter" super platform.

But the so-called "America First Investment Brand" is actually a massive bet on cryptocurrencies—a virtual asset system that fundamentally cannot be regulated by the U.S. government, and which essentially challenges the sovereignty of the dollar.

The real motivation behind the transformation to encryption

When Trump Media realized that it actually only had one "part-time user" (namely Trump himself), was burning cash like water, yet was sitting on a huge influx of cash from the MAGA community, the company decided to "change course."

It chose to give up the social media track and dive into cryptocurrency, even though it does not have any professional financial systems, crypto trading teams, or product development capabilities.

The company stated in its transformation announcement: "Developing 'America First' investment tools is an important step towards achieving our goal of establishing a complete ecosystem. We are committed to helping American patriots resist threats from big tech companies and woke enterprises, such as being deplatformed, censored, financially blocked, and having their privacy invaded."

Narrator (OS): May I ask who can make rational investment decisions based on this text?

The president bets on Bitcoin, the country bets on him.

Today, Trump Media is attempting to repackage itself as a "crypto ETF management company," having invested most of its assets into Bitcoin and leveraging the influence of Trump himself to promote the entire strategy.

Trump claimed in his speech: "I will ensure that America becomes the global cryptocurrency capital. We are making America great again."

The problem is that the President himself has significant personal interests in Bitcoin and related tokens, and he is fully capable of using policy guidance, media statements, or social platform promotions to inflate the prices of these assets—regardless of the cost to the overall national interest.

Currently, the only countries in the world that have truly incorporated Bitcoin into their "national reserves" are those "financial experiment countries" like El Salvador, the Central African Republic, and Bhutan; whereas major powers like China, which genuinely control global financial resources, have long since comprehensively banned Bitcoin.

Frustrating asset list

Pages 17 to 148 of Trump's financial disclosure report is a lengthy listing of the bonds and stock assets he holds through multiple mutual funds.

The page is filled with entries like the following: "Indiana Financial Authority Health System Revenue Bonds (5.00%, Maturity Date December 1, 2024)" — Amount held: less than $5,000.

There are thousands of similar projects, with the vast majority of assets reported as "below $5,000." (By the way: his holdings in Lululemon had an annual return of less than $201 in 2024.)

These dense lists of bonds and stocks are clearly designed to create "information noise"—drowning out truly important information amidst a sea of irrelevant numbers, making even the most diligent supervisors likely to feel drowsy after reaching page 60.

Blank Transaction and Gift Declaration

Despite the 131-page asset section being written in a watertight manner, Trump's legal team left a blank in the "Section 7: Transactions" column, as if selling shares of Trump Media worth up to $2.5 billion did not count as a "transaction."

Even more shocking is that the "Gifts and Travel Reimbursement" section is also completely blank.

If Trump were willing to be frank, he could write the following: "Without congressional approval, Trump accepted a Boeing 747-8 passenger plane valued at over $480, which he intends to use as Air Force One during his presidency and later as a personal aircraft after leaving office."

After the outside world raised questions about "significant conflicts of interest" regarding this gift, Trump changed his statement, saying that the plane was received "on behalf of the United States Air Force." The Department of Defense stated that this plane, which was already "not needed and not suitable," would require at least an additional $400 million to $1 billion for upgrades to be capable of serving as the presidential aircraft.

Once all modifications are completed and the aircraft is retired from service, it is likely that this Boeing will be donated to President Trump's library—a carefully designed "receive first, transfer later" operation.

"Dog Paddle" Asset Declaration: The President's Kaleidoscope

The core part of Trump's financial report appears in the section "Declarant's Employment Assets, Income, and Retirement Accounts." Here is a list composed of 431 companies, assets, club memberships, skating rink accounts, real estate, trademarks, shell companies, buildings, and a mix of active and inactive assets, which also includes projects worth billions of dollars. However, in the report, the valuations of these high-value assets are vaguely marked as "over $50 million."

For example, there is an accounts receivable from "Mr. Hughes" listed, amounting to 3887.58 euros. Nearby, the report also reveals that Trump earned up to 50.12 million dollars from the Mar-a-Lago resort (a presidential-level "pay-to-play" venue) in 2024.

Imagine how many foreign intelligence agency personnel have "landed" on the membership list.

In the document, Trump also disclosed that he received $2.5 million in royalties from Trump Sneakers and noted that the licensing agreement belongs to a company called 45Footwear LLC (whose valuation is "difficult to determine"). One has to admire that Trump actually had the time to vertically integrate the sneaker brand into the company structure.

Strangely, "The Donald J. Trump Company LLC" is listed as "inactive" in the filings, with a valuation of less than $201, and the same goes for The Trump Organization, Inc. Perhaps this is why he only pays $750 in taxes a year?

World Trademark, my name

Immediately afterwards, the report used 57 pages to list Trump's trademark registrations worldwide. For example, "TRUMP HOME" registered in Qatar includes the following categories: soap; perfumes, essential oils, cosmetics, hair care products; toothpaste; essential oils for making candles; room fragrance diffusers...

The trademarks registered in Russia involve: real estate services, namely the sale, listing, leasing, financing, and management of commercial, residential, and hotel properties. Class 037: real estate development and construction; hotel and accommodation services; temporary residences; hotel management; catering services; cafes; taverns and bars...

So, how should Trump's claim over the past decade that he has "no business dealings with Russia" be explained?

On the last page of the 57th page, we see the "soul fragments" disclosed this time: Trump registered copyrights and trademarks for the following phrases - "Crippled America", "How I Do My Deals", "Trump: How to Get Rich", "The Way to the Top", "Letters to Trump"...

First Lady: Named LLC, but actually a shell.

If there is a "loser" in this financial report, it must be Melania Trump. In the section "Spousal Assets and Income," her disclosures read like a bankruptcy liquidation record.

The report indicates that none of the assets are "jointly held" with Trump, and she has no control over the revocable trust.

Melania LLC, owned by Melania, is located in Palm Beach, Florida, and is classified as "inactive," with a valuation of less than $201. She appears to own an apartment on Fifth Avenue in New York (through 721 33H Holdings LLC), valued between $500,000 and $1 million, which seems to suggest that Trump Tower is only enough to accommodate a single room.

Her only stable source of income is renting a family property in Ljubljana, Slovenia. There is also Melania Marks Accessories LLC, a company targeting the jewelry market, with an annual income of less than $1,001.

In 2024, she gave two speeches for the Log Cabin Republicans, an LGBT conservative organization, earning more than $500,000 — don't tell Trump.

$MELANIA: The First Lady's Business in the Crypto World

Her memoir "Melania" sold 85,349 copies in its first week, according to Vanity Fair, which would amount to at least $3.4 million in royalties at a price of $40 per book (similar to Trump Media's annual revenue). However, in the financial report, the book was marked as "revenue below $201."

The publisher's advance payment section is also blank - once again confirming that this presidential couple does not communicate much on a regular basis.

She also received $40 million from Amazon and Bezos for a documentary project in January 2025, but this income was not included in the financial report (the deal had already been made public before the signing of this report on June 13).

Melania's blockchain operations are equally mysterious. The Financial Times disclosed: "Two minutes and thirty seconds before the First Lady publicly announced the issuance of the $MELANIA token, 24 wallet addresses had purchased $2.6 million worth of tokens in advance, and subsequently, these investors made a profit of $99.6 million."

Another media headline reads: "Melania Coin made 24 wallets rich—then it plummeted 95%."

Pam Bondi of the Department of Justice turned a blind eye to this, possibly because she made between $1 million and $5 million by selling Trump Media stock on the day Trump issued the tariff statement that led to a market crash.

The last transaction: Behind the signature

Trump signed the financial report with his famous marker but forgot to fill in the date. In the end, it was unknown who filled in the submission time on his behalf.

The director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics approved the report via digital signature, indicating that she was not with Trump at the time and did not supervise the completion process.

The report claims the content applies to the year 2025, but does not mention Trump's billions in profits from Trump Media, nor does it disclose his hundreds of millions in income from trading Meme coins, and it does not mention Melania's $40 million compensation and the insider trading of her tokens.

There is indeed a column in the report that is true: when asked "What is your appointed position?" the answer is: "President of the United States."

This may be more accurate than what he often says: "We won so beautifully, the victory mandate is unprecedented."

Sadly, in a time when the Supreme Court has granted the president "absolute immunity" and Congress is indifferent to the blurring of lines between public and private within the Trump administration, this president effectively reports only to himself and is accountable to no one.