A cryptocurrency startup spearheaded by Donald Trump‘s sons, Donald Jr. and Eric Trump, has sparked concerns among some of Trump’s most loyal allies within the crypto sector.
What Happened: The Trump siblings have been publicizing their forthcoming cryptocurrency firm, World Liberty Financial, over the past few weeks.
However, according to the report by Politico, the venture has been plagued with a series of setbacks, including hacking incidents involving Trump family members and worries about World Liberty’s intimate connection to a blockchain company that lost $2 million due to security breaches.
“This is a huge mistake,” Nic Carter, a partner at crypto venture capital firm Castle Island Ventures and a Trump supporter, told the outlet.
“It seems like Trump’s inner circle is just cashing in on his recent endorsement of crypto in an unsophisticated manner, and frankly it appears as though they’re squandering a lot of the goodwill that’s been established with the industry so far,” he added.
Earlier this week, accounts belonging to Trump’s daughter-in-law and daughter were compromised and used to advertise a crypto token allegedly from the Trump brothers’ startup.
This prompted the company to warn individuals not to click on any links or buy any tokens shared from their profiles.
According to the outlet, a representative for World Liberty, Zak Folkman, has said that "building a world-class decentralized finance platform with the absolute best of the best in the industry."
He also said that unauthorized X posts and the fake Telegram channel were reported to the two platforms.
Folkman confirmed that Lara, who is Eric Trump's wife, and Tiffany Trump, Donald Trump's daughter, are uninvolved in the project.
Furthermore, there are doubts about the team at World Liberty Financial. The Trump brothers’ firm circulating a white paper that outlines a borrowing and lending service akin to Dough Finance, a blockchain app that was hacked for $2 million in July.
The four individuals who established Dough Finance are listed as team members of World Liberty Financial.
Despite these issues, Donald Trump has vowed to make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet” if he wins the presidency again in November, leading to claims that his crypto policymaking could favor his family.
Why It Matters: The Trump family’s entry into the crypto world has been met with skepticism and concern, particularly due to the recent hacking incidents and the connection to a previously compromised blockchain company.
This venture could potentially impact the reputation and acceptance of cryptocurrency in the political sphere, especially if it is perceived as a way for the Trump family to profit from Donald Trump’s potential return to the presidency.
