According to corporate filings, the Trump family secured roughly $5 billion in profits from a cryptocurrency transaction with a publicly traded company in 2025, a deal that resulted in substantial losses for ordinary investors.
In August 2025, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump appeared at the Nasdaq exchange to celebrate a deal between their co-founded cryptocurrency firm, World Liberty Financial, and the listed company Alt5 Sigma. Under the agreement, Alt5 acquired crypto tokens issued by World Liberty for $1.5 billion, with the Trump family entitled to approximately 75% of the proceeds, equating to about $5 billion.
The glow from this transaction, however, faded rapidly. The share price of Alt5 Sigma—later rebranded as AI Financial Corp.—has plunged more than 93% since before the deal was announced and now trades at just 66 cents. The company has warned investors of substantial doubt regarding its ability to continue operating and faces the risk of delisting from Nasdaq. It has cycled through three CEOs and three external auditors, and even borrowed from World Liberty in an attempt to prop up its share price, without success.
Ethics watchdogs and former regulators have called on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate the company, focusing on its disclosure practices and potential conflicts of interest arising from its ties to the presidential family. The White House has responded, stating that the President and his family have no conflicts of interest in these transactions.
Some major hedge funds managed to mitigate their losses through swift selling. Point72 purchased $36.5 million worth of shares and sold them before year-end; ExodusPoint still holds a position, facing a paper loss of around $14 million; Hong Kong's Soul Ventures liquidated its holdings in mid-October, anticipating a loss between $56 million and $58 million.
The value of the crypto tokens held by AI Financial has drastically declined, falling 72% from $1.5 billion to approximately $412 million. The company's market capitalization now sits at less than $90 million. World Liberty itself is entangled in legal disputes with investors. Due to lock-up period restrictions in the agreement, AI Financial is unable to sell its crypto assets to rescue itself.
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