U.S. President Donald Trump's family earned about $2.3 billion (about 3.5033 trillion won) in pre-tax profit from crypto businesses over the past 18 months, while individual investors and shareholders in listed companies involved in the same businesses posted losses of $2.25 billion (about 3.4270 trillion won), an analysis showed.

CryptoSlate, a blockchain media outlet, reported on June 9 local time that an analysis of trading in crypto projects linked to the Trump family and related listed companies from November 2024 to April 2026 found the Trump side secured about $2.3 billion in profit.

Over the same period, individual investors and public-market investors in those projects recorded net losses of about $2.25 billion, it showed.

The analysis said the biggest source of profit was the decentralised finance (DeFi) project World Liberty Financial (WLFI). World Liberty Financial began selling governance tokens in October 2024, and Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump took part directly in promoting the project. The project set out a goal of building decentralised finance services and a stablecoin ecosystem.

DT Marks DeFi LLC, linked to the Trump family, was reported to have secured the right to receive 75 percent of token sale proceeds after costs. The structure was estimated to have delivered about $987 million to the Trump family. Investors, by contrast, had to endure a long lock-up period and a decline in the token price after listing. As of late April 2026, cumulative losses for World Liberty token investors were tallied at about $674 million.

The TRUMP memecoin showed a similar pattern. The TRUMP token was launched just before the start of the second Trump administration and has been assessed as a speculative asset based on political brand value rather than practical utility. The analysis said the project generated more than $1.2 billion in total profit, with about $616 million estimated to have accrued to the Trump family. The token price fell sharply from a peak of $75.35, and investor losses were estimated to have exceeded $700 million.

Funds also flowed in via a listed company. Nasdaq-listed ALT5 Sigma later changed its name to AI Financial and raised $750 million by issuing new shares. About $717 million of that was used to buy World Liberty tokens.

CryptoSlate estimated that the transactions channelled more than $500 million to the Trump family through World Liberty's profit-sharing structure. Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump were also reported to have attended a Nasdaq opening bell event after the deal was completed.

ALT5 Sigma shares fell sharply. The stock traded above $9 on Aug. 2025 but fell to around $0.75 by late April 2026. Shareholders were estimated to have posted losses of about $675 million. The analysis said the Trump family's profits had already been secured at the time of token sales and were effectively separate from later market price declines.

Bitcoin mining company American Bitcoin was also cited as another profit channel. Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump were reported to have secured stakes without cash outlays, and Eric Trump's stake was valued at more than $70 million even after the share price fell.

American Bitcoin shares fell from $11 at listing to around $1.15 by late April 2026, and outside investor losses were estimated to have exceeded $200 million. CryptoSlate said the scale of those profits was significant even compared with the performance of major crypto companies.

Over the same period, Coinbase posted profit of about $2.1 billion, while bitcoin miner IREN recorded profit of about $127 million. Profit from BlackRock's spot bitcoin ETF business, IBIT, was also estimated at about $109 million. As controversy grew, the White House said the administration's goal was to strengthen U.S. competitiveness in digital assets. World Liberty said the project was a private fintech business, not a political venture.

Democrats took a different view. Lawmakers led by Senator Elizabeth Warren raised concerns with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that the administration's interests tied to crypto businesses could influence regulatory decisions.

The heart of the controversy is that the business structures and regulatory policy are intertwined. The Trump administration has maintained a relatively friendly stance on crypto regulation while pushing stablecoin legislation. Watchdog groups have said pushing deregulation in an industry involving the president's family directly could itself pose a potential conflict of interest.

The industry has assessed the analysis as showing a structure in which project managers first secure profits through token sale proceeds, founder stakes and early allocations, while ordinary investors bear the risk of later price swings.

The analysis also said it showed that investors can face similar risks through shares in listed companies even if they do not buy tokens directly.