Unlock the US Election Countdown newsletter for free
The stories that matter on money and politics in the race for the White House
Donald Trump and his sons are promoting a new crypto platform as the Republican presidential nominee courts the digital asset sector just 50 days before the US election.
Trump, Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump, along with New York-based property developer and big Trump donor Steve Witkoff and sons Alex and Zach Witkoff, joined an X Spaces conversation on Monday where World Liberty Financial was officially announced.
The company said its “mission is crystal clear: make crypto and America great by driving the mass adoption of stablecoins and decentralised finance”. Few additional details were offered, although several speakers described a desire to improve accessibility and usability for crypto users. A token would also be offered, said Corey Caplan, an adviser to the project.
“We’re embracing the future with crypto and leaving the slow and outdated big banks behind,” Trump said in a video last week teasing the announcement.
During the interview at his Florida Mar-a-Lago resort on Monday, Trump told moderator and “proud crypto bro” Farokh Sarmad that conversations with his sons changed his mind on the benefits of digital assets.
“He talks about his wallet — He’s got four wallets or something,” said Trump of his 18-year-old son Barron. “And I’m saying, ‘What is a wallet? Explain this to me’.
“It’s almost like younger people know it a lot better than older people,” added Trump during the interview, a day after he was targeted in an apparent assassination attempt on a golf course in Florida.
“I think decentralised finance is the way of the future,” said Steve Witkoff during Monday’s event.
Zak Folkman, an employee at the company, said World Liberty Financial would not “rebuild the wheel” but use “simple products”, interacting with tokens known as stablecoins, whose value is tied to the US dollar.
The company has not given many details of how it will operate or what products it will offer. It warned on X on Monday night: “Beware of Scams! Fake tokens & AirDrop offers are circulating. We aren’t live yet!”
Trump’s pro-crypto comments marked a departure from his previous views. He had said the value of cryptocurrencies was “based on thin air” and that investing in them was “potentially a disaster waiting to happen”.
But Trump has embraced digital assets during the 2024 campaign, accepting donations in cryptocurrencies and calling for the US to be the “crypto capital of the planet”.
He has won the support of investors in the sector such as influential venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, Gemini exchange co-founders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss and Kraken exchange co-founder Jesse Powell.
Crypto groups have increasingly exerted their power, raising hundreds of millions of dollars to support sympathetic candidates and intensifying a lobbying campaign against Gary Gensler, chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, who has cracked down on the industry.
In July, Trump promised at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville that he would “fire” Gensler on his first day in office, to a huge roar from the audience.
