New: How Trump's crypto profits rely on a sanctions-busting exchange
News on the return of Donald Trump's for-profit presidency
How the Trumps’ billion-dollar crypto stake depends on a company that helped Iran evade sanctions
Public Citizen just published my first report in my new role as research director of its Trump accountability project:
“How the Trumps’ Billion-Dollar Crypto Stake Depends on a Company That Helped Iran Evade Sanctions.”
tl;dr (but you should r)—
1. In November 2023, Binance pleaded guilty in the United States to “anti-money laundering, unlicensed money transmitting, and sanctions violations” and paid $4 billion in penalties. Its CEO also “pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program” and was sentenced to four months in prison.
2 . The Trumps and Witkoffs launched World Liberty Financial in September 2024. Rather than shun a company that the Treasury Department said, “willfully failed to report well over 100,000 suspicious transactions that it processed as a result of its deficient controls, including transactions involving terrorist organizations, ransomware, child sexual exploitation material, frauds, and scams”—including in Iran—World Liberty Financial became reliant on it.
It reportedly accepted donated software from Binance. Binance made World Liberty Financial’s fledgling USD1 among the top stablecoins by accepting it in a $2 billion investment. Binance generated demand for USD1 by offering prizes for trading it. Binance converted the assets backing its sunsetting stablecoin into USD1, making it “an integral part of Binance’s updated collateral structure,” according to the World Liberty Financial. Binance now holds about 84% of all USD1 between its own accounts and its customers’.
3. In February 2026, President Trump led the United States into war against Iran.
4. Binance has continued to help Iranians evade sanctions, even after pleading guilty, Fortune, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times reported in February and March 2026. Trump’s own Justice Department, in fact, has reportedly opened an investigation.
5. Rather than retreating from its dependence on Binance in light of these new reports, World Liberty Financial is trying to a strengthen its already heavy dependence on the exchange. It has funded a promotion that encourages Binance users to acquire and hold USD1. It extended the promotion just last week.
And World Liberty Financial has entanglements beyond Binance related to Trump’s war in Iran—
Days before Trump’s inauguration, a company chaired by the UAE’s national security adviser purchased a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial, directing hundreds of millions to the Trumps and Witkoffs. That same spymaster, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, also chairs the firm that chose to use $2 billion of USD1 to invest in Binance. The UAE, of course, has a major interest in U.S. policy towards Iran. Last week, Trump said the United States was considering offering financial support to the UAE, which “has been contending with economic fallout from the war,” the New York Times reported.
The Pakistani government is hosting peace negotiations between the U.S. and Iran. It is also a business partner of World Liberty Financial, which is helping the country integrate blockchain technology into its financial system, according to a press release from the Ministry of Finance
There’s a lot more in the whole report, so please read and share it. Thanks! And thanks to all my colleagues at Public Citizen who provided edits and other suggestions.
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More on crypto corruption and Trump
I chatted about my report with Public Citizen co-president Lisa Gilbert for our new Live: Informed Resistance conversation series on Substack.
Public Citizen launches new Substack
By the way, you should absolutely subscribe to Public Citizen’s Substack. My colleagues have been doing some amazing work trying to block Trump’s destruction of the East Wing, digging into Big Tech CEOs cozying up to Trump, keeping tabs on RFK Jr.’s misleading congressional testimony, and in countless other areas.
Australia National Radio: Crypto was already a risky proposition, enter Donald J. Trump
Last week, I joined host Fran Kelly on ABC’s “The Radio National Hour” to talk at length about World Liberty Financial, why Justin Sun was angry at it, and how it has helped Trump’s net worth skyrocket while in office.
‘Jared Kushner’s mysterious role in the Trump Administration’
Friend of the newsletter Andrea Bernstein asks, “Is the president’s son-in-law carrying out the public’s business or pursuing his own private interests?” for The Atlantic:
While carrying out public business for his father-in-law, [Jared Kushner] has continued to pursue his private interests and declined to disclose any information about them. There’s a carve-out designation in ethics laws known as the “special government employee,” which allows businesspeople to perform work for the government. Elon Musk was a special government employee, and so was Corey Lewandowski. But Kushner has not been designated one. He is both outside and inside government—a “volunteer,” the White House calls him. And he is vaulting over strictures that were put in place to defend the mechanisms of government from becoming tools of foreign or private interests.
If there’s one thing you remember from this newsletter…
Since Trump was re-elected, Forbes estimates—
💰 His net worth is up $1.9 billion, to $6.2 billion
💰 Eric’s is up 10x, to $400 million
💰 Don Jr.’s is up 6x, to $300 million
💰 20-year-old Barron is worth $150 million
And Jared became a billionaire last year.
Other Trump Organization news
“Eric Trump-backed robot startup lands $24M Pentagon deal to compete with China” (Madison Colombo for Fox Business)
Trump’s memecoin hit an all-time low of $2.52 on Saturday, the day he hosted an event at Mar-a-Lago for the top holders. That’s down from a high of $73.43 shortly after its launch. (CoinGecko)
“Crypto Billionaire Justin Sun Sues Trump’s World Liberty Financial—After Investing $45 Million” (Siladitya Ray for Forbes)
World Liberty Financial’s $WLFI coin hit an all-time low of $0.07262 on Monday. That’s down from a high on the public market of $0.3313, but still 1.5x to 5x to what early investors paid (CoinGecko)
Alt5 Sigma—the beleaguered tech company that thought buying $1.5 billion of Trump’s WLFI tokens was a good idea—is changing its name, which will surely fix everything. (Press release)
“The President of Belemaoil Group, Tein Jack-Rich, has held high-level discussions with veteran political strategist Roger Stone at Mar-a-Lago, focusing on expanding trade relations between the United States and Nigeria.” (Nnasom David for Vanguard)
“Devin Nunes was not an obvious choice to run a fledgling social media network, but after $1.1 billion in losses, the former dairy farmer and congressman is out as the head of Truth Social.” (Russ Choma for Mother Jones)
Eric Trump’s kids’ cancer charity, again ostensibly spent money at a Trump property (Lara Trump on X)
RNC dropped $50K at Trump Doral on March 13. (FEC filing)
NRCC funneled $31,000 to Trump via a Mar -a-Lago rental in March. (FEC filing)
Trump’s former bodyguard Keith Schiller is now lobbying for Taiwan, as one does. (FARA filing)
“Bodycam Footage Shows 2022 Arrest of Zach Witkoff Outside Miami Nightclub” (Scott Stedman for The Newsground)
“LIV Golf Kills: Resist Saudi Tyranny and Trump Corruption at Trump National Golf Club: Day One of the Tournament” (Action Network)
On April 17, Donald Trump’s Patent and Trademark Office decided that, yes, his daughter-in-law demonstrated she had been using “Lara Trump” on products and advanced her TM application. (USPTO filing)
“The Trump phone still isn’t real” (Dominic Preston for The Verge)
Get in touch
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