The new skin of the dollar, the new Wallet of corruption: Trump turned the White House into an encryption exchange.

Original title: New York Times: The Trump family's crypto world money-making is worse than the Watergate scandal.

Original author: Jacob Silverman (author of “The Golden Fury: Elon Musk and the Radicalization of Silicon Valley”)

Original source:

Reprinted: Daisy, Mars Finance

In the history of American politics, no president has ever intertwined national power, personal branding, and financial speculation into a global-scale experiment like Trump.

The combination of money and power is not new, but when this combination appears in the form of “tokens”, when the image of national leaders is minted into tradable assets, and when political influence can flow freely on the blockchain, what we face is no longer traditional corruption, but rather a reconstruction at the systemic level.

This article documents not a single scandal, but a paradigm shift: the president is no longer just a political figure, but has become the largest coin holder in the decentralized economy; diplomatic relations are no longer reached through secret talks, but are connected by wallet addresses. Technology, once seen as a guarantee of transparency and fairness, may now become a new power broker.

When cryptocurrency enters the White House, and the digital shadow of the dollar intertwines with national will, we must rethink a question: In this era of “on-chain sovereignty,” do the boundaries of power still exist?

The following is the original content.

The New Wallet of Power: How Cryptocurrency Entered the White House

If you are an authoritarian leader trying to influence another head of state, you might gift him a luxurious Boeing 747 private jet; you may lavishly spend at his hotel or invest in the numerous businesses he owns with his children; you might even buy the sneakers, NFTs, and other branded merchandise he promotes.

In the case of President Trump, potential “power brokers” have a richer menu of options.

But now, these all seem unnecessary.

During the campaign, Trump announced his cryptocurrency plan – World Liberty Financial, and launched a “meme coin” named after himself just days before taking office. Anyone who purchases tokens from World Liberty can indirectly funnel funds to the Trump family business. Through a crypto project controlled by the president, his son, and family friends, the Trump family has accumulated billions of dollars in paper wealth.

World Liberty has become a powerful influence channel: anyone - whether it's you, me, or a prince from the UAE - can fatten Trump's wallet simply by purchasing the tokens issued by the company.

The key lies in this “convenience.” For those seeking influence, cash-filled briefcases and Swiss bank accounts have been replaced by crypto tokens that can be quickly transferred between wallets and exchanges. More seasoned crypto users—state actors, hacker groups, money laundering organizations—can further obscure transaction trails using tools like “mixers.”

It is precisely this convenience that has made cryptocurrencies the preferred tool for criminal organizations and sanctions evaders.

Transparent Illusions: When Corruption Happens in the Name of “Decentralization”

This is unprecedented in the history of American politics.

Looking back at the scandals of past administrations—corrupt aides around President Grant, the oil lease bribery in the “Teapot Dome Scandal” during Harding's time, and even Nixon's “Watergate Scandal”—none have seen someone like Trump, who intertwines personal and government interests on such a scale, nor has anyone profited personally to such an extent from it.

There is really nothing innovative here; the only truly “novel” aspect lies in the current president's blatant use of his name, image, and social media influence to promote a cryptocurrency token that is nearly indistinguishable from thousands of other products on the market. For MAGA supporters and ordinary speculators, buying these tokens may signify “financial ruin”; and a president leading political supporters into such high-risk investments is behavior that deserves condemnation.

But the greater risk is that powerful overseas forces may use this to funnel huge amounts of money to Trump.

For any head of state, purchasing Trump's tokens or investing in his crypto projects has become a direct act of political speculation.

This is exactly the distorted incentive created by Trump's “crypto donation box.”

Take the recent two multi-billion dollar deals involving one of the most influential figures in the UAE—Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan—and Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff as an example:

In the first transaction, the state-owned investment fund led by Taha Nong pledged to invest in the world’s largest crypto exchange Binance with USD1 stablecoin (issued by World Liberty Financial) worth $2 billion. (The so-called stablecoin is a type of cryptocurrency aimed at maintaining stable value and serving as a substitute for a “digital dollar.”)

It is worth noting that Binance founder Zhao Changpeng is seeking a pardon from Trump after admitting to money laundering.

In the second transaction, Witkoff facilitated an agreement with David Sacks, the “AI and Crypto Head” appointed by Trump, allowing the UAE to purchase hundreds of thousands of high-end AI chips for data center construction. These chips are highly sought after in the global AI race and are subject to strict export controls. Experts are concerned that these chips may be resold or shared with Chinese companies by the UAE.

Although there is no conclusive evidence showing that these two transactions involve a clear “exchange of interests,” the participants are highly overlapping with the interest network, and the model of mixing public and private interests is becoming a hallmark of the Trump administration.

The use of USD1 stablecoin worth 2 billion dollars by Tachenong is itself intriguing.

If his only purpose is to invest in Binance, he can simply remit directly.

Choosing to use USD1 stablecoin from World Liberty Financial as an “intermediary” is essentially creating a “blood supply” for a company that directly benefits Vitekoff and Trump.

Despite the strong scent of scandal, Trump's crypto activities mostly take place in a relatively open environment.

Some notorious figures in the crypto world even flaunted on social media that they purchased tens of millions of dollars worth of WLFI tokens.

Among the most active is Chinese crypto entrepreneur Sun Yuchen—who frequently showcases his large holdings of World Liberty and Trump meme coins on social media, positioning himself as an important supporter of Trump’s crypto empire.

In February of this year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requested a federal judge to suspend the civil fraud lawsuit against Sun Yuchen, and the court approved this request. In May, Sun Yuchen, as one of the top holders of Trump meme coin, was invited to attend a dinner at Trump's National Golf Club in Virginia—where he received a gold watch from the president.

In the past (a few years ago), if the president were involved in such obvious conflicts of interest, Congress would have already held hearings, and law enforcement agencies would have initiated investigations.

However, the recent ruling by the Supreme Court regarding “presidential immunity” has rendered these oversight measures almost ineffective.

The Justice Department will not prosecute the sitting president.

At the beginning of his new term, Trump fired 18 inspectors general—key figures who could have potentially exposed and investigated government crypto activities. In February of this year, he also ordered the Department of Justice to suspend the enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (which prohibits bribing foreign officials), only resuming enforcement four months later.

At the same time, regulatory agencies have shifted their focus away from the crypto world, while the Trump administration has helped to advance the legislative agenda favored by the crypto industry.

Trump and his offspring's accumulation of crypto wealth seems to be expanding during his term.

Currently, there is yet to be any “upper limit” that can prevent foreign capital from continuously flowing in. This door has opened a pathway for a level of corruption in the United States that has never been seen before. And we must confront the dark possibilities it brings.