World Liberty Financial, the crypto company owned by President Donald Trump, was already laying its tracks before he even stepped into the White House for the second time, according to The New York Times.
Zachary Folkman, who used to run a business called Date Hotter Girls, messaged a Cayman Islands crypto startup through Signal. He pitched a deal: swap coins to boost each other’s reputations. But the catch was brutal. The startup would have to secretly hand over millions to World Liberty just to say they were associated with Trump.
Folkman bragged that others were already paying between $10 million and $30 million for the same privilege. The Cayman startup rejected it. So did other firms that got the same pitch. They called it unethical, basically buying endorsements and lying about it.
Even after the rejections, the Times alleges that World Liberty kept pushing, selling coins worldwide and raking in more than $550 million.
Trump turns World Liberty into a global machine
The comeback to power opened new doors for Trump. Through World Liberty, he erased the old barriers between private business and government. World Liberty is mostly owned by a Trump family company. It’s gotten direct boosts from presidential decisions.
After Trump announced a national crypto stockpile that included a coin the company backed, the value of their holdings jumped. He filled top jobs with crypto fans, made a former crypto advisor the SEC chairman, and killed the Justice Department’s crypto crimes task force.
World Liberty has been selling its coins abroad to buyers in Israel and Hong Kong. The move gave overseas investors a new way to cozy up to the Trump administration. Some of those investors were managing firms under investigation by the US government.
One fraud case even got paused after an executive poured millions into World Liberty. Other investors were trying to grow businesses that would need federal approval.
The company pitched at least five startups, offering to swap coins while demanding huge payments in secret. Andre Cronje from SonicLabs said, “It’s a black spot on our industry.” Folkman and Chase Herro kept the deals rolling, always using Trump’s name to push them.
David Wachsman, World Liberty’s spokesman, denied anything shady, saying deals were “thoughtful, strategic exchanges” and calling accusations of political favors “false, absurd and dangerous.” Even so, the profits stayed close to home. Trump’s business owns 60% of World Liberty and grabs 75% of some revenue from coin sales, said the Times.
Eric Trump, who runs the family business, said at the Trump Doral golf course in Florida, “It’s one of the more successful things we’ve ever done.” He and Donald Trump Jr. are hands-on with World Liberty. They work with partners Folkman, Herro, and Zach Witkoff.
Zach, son of Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, helped arrange meetings in Pakistan with Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif. Limousines, police escorts, and even dancers were brought in. Wachsman claimed no US officials were part of it.
Trump’s crypto bets explode after election night
Trump’s second election win flipped everything. As soon as polls closed, World Liberty’s account on X posted, “Big things on the horizon.” Overnight, investment rushed into their coins. Blockchain records showed that a lot of the buyers came from Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, and the UAE.
Since Trump returned, some of these investors have been chasing US expansion. Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, bought $75 million worth of World Liberty’s coin. Sun, facing SEC charges for fraud, claimed his investment was faith in the project, but shortly afterward, the SEC asked a judge to freeze Sun’s case, citing a possible settlement.
The Times claimed the real pitch was a buyout: pay World Liberty $10 million to $30 million for its coins and get a smaller investment back. Five startups did strike deals with World Liberty, even without public disclosure. One, the Sui Foundation, got a price jump of over 10% after announcing a deal.
Eric Trump later gave investment advice on X, telling followers it was a good time to buy $ETH, then deleting the comment. A month later, President Trump announced the “US Crypto Reserve,” putting Bitcoin and Ether at the center. Ether’s price jumped 13%, briefly boosting World Liberty’s $240 million Ether stash by $33 million before prices slid.
