Trump made over $1 billion from crypto in his first year in office

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Trump made over $1 billion from crypto in his first year in office

US President Donald Trump earned more than $1 billion (£750 million) last year from his cryptocurrency business dealings, according to his mandatory 2025 financial report.

In a 927-page disclosure, he reported $635 million in royalties from a Trump coin whose value has plunged since he launched it days before taking office.

He also reported more than $500 million in revenue from World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency company founded by his own sons and the children of his special envoy, Steve Witkoff.

He made millions more from real estate and Trump-themed items. But the White House has denied that he is profiting from the presidency.

The results of his latest financial disclosure far exceed those of 2024, when Trump disclosed more than $600 million in income.

But the White House, which has repeatedly stressed that Trump placed his companies in a trust managed by his sons, again denied any conflict of interest.

White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said the president had proudly made the United States “the crypto capital of the world.”

“Neither the president nor his family have ever engaged – nor will ever engage – in conflicts of interest,” she said in a statement.

She added: “All actions by President Trump and his administration are taken in the best interests of the American people – and all the so-called ‘journalists’ pushing otherwise are recycling the same tired and false narrative that Democrats and the mainstream media have been pushing for a decade. »

The president himself also emphasized that he was not subject to federal conflict of interest laws.

Trump once criticized cryptocurrency, Bitcoin is said to be a “scam” in 2021 and “impending disaster.”

But, during his presidential campaign three years later, Trump said he wanted to make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet.” One of his first actions upon returning to the White House last year was an executive order to “support responsible growth” of the crypto industry.

Richard Painter, the former chief ethics lawyer at the White House under George W Bush, told the BBC it was “extraordinary” that Trump made $1 billion from crypto.

“Of course it is a conflict of interest,” he said.

Will Walker-Arnott, head of private clients at Raymond James Financial Group, said: “His approach, I suppose, contrasts with previous presidents in terms of making money.

“Jimmy Carter placed his peanut farm in a blind trust and George W Bush sold his stake in the Texas Rangers before becoming president, but Trump seems to operate in a very different way and appears to be making a lot of money from this family crypto company.”

Tuesday’s disclosure shows that his crypto earnings far eclipse earnings from his real estate business, which first catapulted him to fame.

Trump earned approximately $77 million from his Mar-a-Lago club and $122 million from his golf club in Doral, Florida.

He also earned more than $30 million each from golf clubs in Bedminster, New Jersey, Jupiter, Florida, and Turnberry, Scotland.

Trump also made millions from other business ventures, according to financial disclosures.

These included $4.7 million in royalties from Trump-branded watches, as well as Trump-branded Bibles, sneakers, perfume and guitars.

First Lady Melania Trump also listed her 2025 income in the disclosure. She earned $10.7 million from a “licensing deal” tied to the documentary about her released last year.

Another $6 million in revenue is attributed to him from the sale of NFTs, which are digital images sold online.

The president listed some $86.5 million in settlement revenue from various legal actions.

These included $16 million from a lawsuit against ABC, $16 million from CBS Broadcasting and CBS Interactive, $24.5 million from Meta, $22 million from YouTube and $8 million from X.

But the White House said most of that money was earmarked for Trump’s future presidential library or a nonprofit dedicated to maintaining parks in the Washington, D.C. area.

According to a list of the world’s richest people compiled by Forbes magazine, Trump has an estimated fortune of $6 billion, up from $2.3 billion in 2024. Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index puts the president’s net worth at $7.6 billion.

After returning to the White House, Trump took a friendly approach toward the crypto industry, even though companies linked to his family were issuing digital tokens.

The head of the Trump-appointed financial regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission, is also seen as an ally of the crypto industry.

Since taking office in April 2025, Paul Atkins has moved the agency away from his predecessor’s strict rule-by-enforcement approach.

Last July, the president signed the GENIUS Act, to “make America the undisputed leader in digital assets.”

At more than 900 pages, Trump’s annual filing dwarfs those of his predecessors. For example, Joe Biden’s financial report for his last full year in office was 11 pages long.

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