Trump Defends $1.4 Billion Crypto Income as Memecoin Investors Lose $3.8 Billion

Trump insisted there’s nothing wrong or illegal about the $1.4 billion he and his family earned from crypto ventures in 2025, defending the windfall in a CNBC interview at the White House on Thursday.

The financial disclosure, released by the Office of Government Ethics last week, showed $636 million in royalties tied to Trump’s eponymous memecoin, roughly $594 million from World Liberty Financial, the venture he co-founded with sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., and nearly $197 million from a stablecoin venture linked to Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Asked whether he was aware of the crypto dealings, Trump told CNBC’s Joe Kernen, “I could know about it. I didn’t. I mean, there’s nothing illegal, there’s nothing wrong with it.”

Trump handed day-to-day control of his companies to his sons rather than divesting, and his administration has pursued a permissive approach toward crypto regulation. Critics argue the arrangement lets the Trump family profit from policies it directly shapes. According to Trump, however, his administration’s cryptocurrency efforts are geared toward achieving dominance over China.

Blockchain analytics firm Nansen found that of the 1.48 million wallets that have bought the TRUMP memecoin since its January 2025 launch, 988,905, roughly two-thirds, are underwater, with combined losses of $3.81 billion, the New York Times reported last week. Only 492,285 wallets are in profit, concentrated among traders who bought in the token’s earliest hours, before it rose to a $75 peak. The coin was most recently trading at $1.66, down 98% from its price record. On World Liberty Financial’s token, about 85% of secondary-market wallets are underwater too.

Trump’s crypto earnings have drawn recurring scrutiny since his return to office. Senator Elizabeth Warren has pushed to bar Trump and his family from profiting from the sector through the pending Clarity Act. Meanwhile, five Democratic senators, including Warren, have separately demanded hearings into a reported $500 million stake a UAE royal adviser took in World Liberty Financial.

Related Listen: Why Authorities Can’t Freeze Crypto Fast Enough: DEX in the City

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