Cryptocurrency is a true mystery to most. Terms like blockchain, decentralised finance (DeFi) and mining are alien to them. Meanwhile, with the absence of any regulating body, crypto has become the first choice of those involved in illegal acts, including terrorism. Now, it has also suddenly come to play a role in international diplomacy, acting both as a tool for economic innovation and a potential weapon in geopolitical strategies.
US President Donald Trump, who used to be staunchly opposed to crypto, is now its strongest advocate.
The shift started when Trump campaigned for presidency in 2024, having accepted donations worth $7.5 million in cryptocurrency. Since he took oath for the second time, he has launched ventures for crypto trade, drafted procrypto policy initiatives and forced international diplomacy through digital assets. He has integrated crypto into the US financial system and created a crypto reserve, even as he disbanded a team working on crypto crimes.
Trump’s role in cryptocurrency is multifaceted: he is a high-profile investor, policy reformer and diplomatic influencer and his shift from critic to champion sparks serious ethical and security concerns.
Over the past few months, US companies connected with Trump signed multiple deals with government-sponsored organisations of various countries for crypto. The process is presently moving at an exceptional pace.
The interplay of personal profit and policy raises major red flags and has a huge impact on international relations.
RISE OF WLF
The one thing common to the deals backed by Trump is World Liberty Financial (WLF). It is a DeFi platform —a blockchain-based system offering financial services—headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware. It is a bank performing everything a bank does, except that it is all in crypto.
The Trump family formed WLF in September 2024 after Donald Trump got through the Republican primaries and won sympathy after an assassination attempt on him. WLF launched its $WLFI token, which was bought in bulk by the Trump family, at the time.
After becoming president, Trump launched two types of memecoin, one in his own name and another in his wife’s name, terming them $TRUMP and $MELANIA.
These memecoins, without anything intrinsic backing it, gain value from trading, hype, social media, or celebrity association rather than practical use cases.
Today there are plans to list WLF on Nasdaq.
Ever since Trump became POTUS, multiple deals were signed with various countries, which not only benefitted WLF, but skyrocketed the price of his own portfolio.
For example, in March 2025, WLF sent a letter of intent to Pakistan for inclusion of crypto in its financial institutions and signed a formal agreement on April 26. In the following two months Pakistan created a regulatory framework and started trading in crypto with WLF.
Meanwhile, in UAE, Trump’s stablecoin was used by state-owned MGX in its $2 billion investment in crypto exchange Binance, while another fund based in that country bought $100 million worth of WLFI tokens.
In May, GD Culture Group, a company with close ties to the Chinese government, invested $300 million in $TRUMP. In April, Fr8Tech, a Mexico-based tech firm, invested $20 million in $TRUMP memecoin.
Trump organisations like CIC Digital and Fight Fight Fight control the $TRUMP memecoin, while Melania-owned MKT World controls the sale of $MELANIA. Since their launch, over 50 large investors, including Oddiyana Ventures, Web3Port, DWF Labs and Aqua1 Foundation, from across the world, invested in WLF.
In August, ALT5 Sigma Corporation, a Nasdaq-listed fintech and digital asset treasury company, finalised a $1.5 billion deal with WLF, and acquired 7.5% of WLF’s tokens. This deal has given a significant boost to the market price of WLFI token.
These are just a few examples, and there could be other governments and private organisations which might have invested heavily in Trump’s crypto businesses.
OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN
It is extremely difficult to speculate the net worth of Trump on crypto platforms, and different estimates have been floating about. The New York Times pegged it at $7.1 billion in July, Bloomberg limited it to $620 million in the same month. Others like Forbes gave an estimate of $3.3 billion, while Accountable.US estimated it at over $11 billion.
A major reason for the wild variance is that the total count of WLFI tokens or $TRUMP and $MELANIA memecoins is not available. How many are in the market and how many are still locked are a mystery.
However, one thing is clear—nearly all this worth of crypto has been obtained by Trump and his family after he became the 47th president of the United States.
Soon after Trump became president, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dropped probe into Coinbase, a crypto trading organisation headed by Brian Armstrong. The company was accused of marketing unregistered securities. After investigations were dropped without any penalty, Armstrong went into an agreement with WLF and listed $TRUMP and $MELANIA for sale on its platform, giving them more visibility.
Similarly, a major fraud case against Justin Sun, founder of Tron cryptocurrency, was rolled back. He promptly invested $75 million in WLF in February.
Others on the list of beneficiaries include Ripple Labs, Binance, Horizen Labs, Cumberland, Immutable, Crypto.com, Gemini, OpenSea, Uniswap Labs, ConsenSys, Robinhood, PayPal and CyberKongz.
Trump’s policies (such as dismissal of lawsuits by SEC, and the GENIUS Act) align with his financial interests, while his deregulation approach may harm the US in several ways.
These actions may weaken antimoney laundering measures, enabling terrorist groups or non-state actors to exploit US-based platforms, and it may create a different and parallel financial system for illicit activities in US and beyond.
INDIA’S MOVES
Through their involvement in WLF, foreign entities may try to gain influence in US policy. Trump, through these dealings, is creating new geopolitical and diplomatic flashpoints, the signs of which are visible now.
India has to be cautious, as Pakistan is deeply involved with WLF and America in crypto.
Given its record of terror financing and grey listing at the Financial Action Task Force, Pakistan will be using crypto channels to fund, finance and empower its terrorist network, something that can cause serious challenges for India.
At the same time, against the backdrop of the ongoing tariff war and strained relationship with India, US may try to project Pakistan as a crypto hub for South Asia, hampering India’s economic interests. The hope is that India’s balanced and cautious approach may help attract crypto investors and reduce its reliance on the dollar further.
(Views are personal)
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of www.economictimes.com)
US President Donald Trump, who used to be staunchly opposed to crypto, is now its strongest advocate.
The shift started when Trump campaigned for presidency in 2024, having accepted donations worth $7.5 million in cryptocurrency. Since he took oath for the second time, he has launched ventures for crypto trade, drafted procrypto policy initiatives and forced international diplomacy through digital assets. He has integrated crypto into the US financial system and created a crypto reserve, even as he disbanded a team working on crypto crimes.
Trump’s role in cryptocurrency is multifaceted: he is a high-profile investor, policy reformer and diplomatic influencer and his shift from critic to champion sparks serious ethical and security concerns.
Over the past few months, US companies connected with Trump signed multiple deals with government-sponsored organisations of various countries for crypto. The process is presently moving at an exceptional pace.
The interplay of personal profit and policy raises major red flags and has a huge impact on international relations.
RISE OF WLF
The one thing common to the deals backed by Trump is World Liberty Financial (WLF). It is a DeFi platform —a blockchain-based system offering financial services—headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware. It is a bank performing everything a bank does, except that it is all in crypto.
The Trump family formed WLF in September 2024 after Donald Trump got through the Republican primaries and won sympathy after an assassination attempt on him. WLF launched its $WLFI token, which was bought in bulk by the Trump family, at the time.
After becoming president, Trump launched two types of memecoin, one in his own name and another in his wife’s name, terming them $TRUMP and $MELANIA.
These memecoins, without anything intrinsic backing it, gain value from trading, hype, social media, or celebrity association rather than practical use cases.
Today there are plans to list WLF on Nasdaq.
Ever since Trump became POTUS, multiple deals were signed with various countries, which not only benefitted WLF, but skyrocketed the price of his own portfolio.
For example, in March 2025, WLF sent a letter of intent to Pakistan for inclusion of crypto in its financial institutions and signed a formal agreement on April 26. In the following two months Pakistan created a regulatory framework and started trading in crypto with WLF.
Meanwhile, in UAE, Trump’s stablecoin was used by state-owned MGX in its $2 billion investment in crypto exchange Binance, while another fund based in that country bought $100 million worth of WLFI tokens.
In May, GD Culture Group, a company with close ties to the Chinese government, invested $300 million in $TRUMP. In April, Fr8Tech, a Mexico-based tech firm, invested $20 million in $TRUMP memecoin.
Trump organisations like CIC Digital and Fight Fight Fight control the $TRUMP memecoin, while Melania-owned MKT World controls the sale of $MELANIA. Since their launch, over 50 large investors, including Oddiyana Ventures, Web3Port, DWF Labs and Aqua1 Foundation, from across the world, invested in WLF.
In August, ALT5 Sigma Corporation, a Nasdaq-listed fintech and digital asset treasury company, finalised a $1.5 billion deal with WLF, and acquired 7.5% of WLF’s tokens. This deal has given a significant boost to the market price of WLFI token.
These are just a few examples, and there could be other governments and private organisations which might have invested heavily in Trump’s crypto businesses.
OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN
It is extremely difficult to speculate the net worth of Trump on crypto platforms, and different estimates have been floating about. The New York Times pegged it at $7.1 billion in July, Bloomberg limited it to $620 million in the same month. Others like Forbes gave an estimate of $3.3 billion, while Accountable.US estimated it at over $11 billion.
A major reason for the wild variance is that the total count of WLFI tokens or $TRUMP and $MELANIA memecoins is not available. How many are in the market and how many are still locked are a mystery.
However, one thing is clear—nearly all this worth of crypto has been obtained by Trump and his family after he became the 47th president of the United States.
Soon after Trump became president, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dropped probe into Coinbase, a crypto trading organisation headed by Brian Armstrong. The company was accused of marketing unregistered securities. After investigations were dropped without any penalty, Armstrong went into an agreement with WLF and listed $TRUMP and $MELANIA for sale on its platform, giving them more visibility.
Similarly, a major fraud case against Justin Sun, founder of Tron cryptocurrency, was rolled back. He promptly invested $75 million in WLF in February.
Others on the list of beneficiaries include Ripple Labs, Binance, Horizen Labs, Cumberland, Immutable, Crypto.com, Gemini, OpenSea, Uniswap Labs, ConsenSys, Robinhood, PayPal and CyberKongz.
Trump’s policies (such as dismissal of lawsuits by SEC, and the GENIUS Act) align with his financial interests, while his deregulation approach may harm the US in several ways.
These actions may weaken antimoney laundering measures, enabling terrorist groups or non-state actors to exploit US-based platforms, and it may create a different and parallel financial system for illicit activities in US and beyond.
INDIA’S MOVES
Through their involvement in WLF, foreign entities may try to gain influence in US policy. Trump, through these dealings, is creating new geopolitical and diplomatic flashpoints, the signs of which are visible now.
India has to be cautious, as Pakistan is deeply involved with WLF and America in crypto.
Given its record of terror financing and grey listing at the Financial Action Task Force, Pakistan will be using crypto channels to fund, finance and empower its terrorist network, something that can cause serious challenges for India.
At the same time, against the backdrop of the ongoing tariff war and strained relationship with India, US may try to project Pakistan as a crypto hub for South Asia, hampering India’s economic interests. The hope is that India’s balanced and cautious approach may help attract crypto investors and reduce its reliance on the dollar further.
(Views are personal)
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of www.economictimes.com)
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