Trump’s crypto empire: why the industry should be alarmed

Crypto was supposed to fix power, not feed it.

But with Donald Trump, the current President of the United States, now running a full-scale crypto venture while also overseeing the country’s regulatory framework, the line between public duty and private profit has never been blurrier.

His company, World Liberty Financial (WLF), co-launched with his sons, positions itself as a freedom-first blockchain platform. But behind the patriotic branding lies a glaring conflict of interest that threatens the credibility of both the presidency and the crypto industry.

The president, the deregulator… and the beneficiary

Trump has made deregulating crypto one of his core second-term promises; pledging to roll back SEC crackdowns, block central bank digital currencies, and create a more “crypto-friendly” America.

At the same time, he’s now the founder and financial beneficiary of a new crypto venture.

He’s not just “supporting innovation.” He’s monetizing it. While holding the pen that writes the rules.

In any other industry, this would be a scandal. In crypto? It’s being shrugged off, or worse, celebrated.

The mother of all conflicts of interest

There’s no polite way to put this: a sitting president should not run a business in the same industry he regulates.

Trump is now in a position to:

• Pass laws that benefit his own crypto holdings.
• Appoint regulators (or remove them) based on how they treat his venture.
• Shield himself and his partners from enforcement.

Crypto doesn’t need special treatment. It needs fair treatment. And when the most powerful person in the country becomes a market participant, fairness dies.

This isn’t just a slippery slope, we’ve already started sliding.

Reputation risk for the whole ecosystem

Crypto has always fought against the narrative that it’s just for scams, manipulation, or power grabs.

But how do we defend that narrative now?

The sitting president has turned crypto into a political instrument. Not just by issuing statements, but by building a private platform for profit while he holds the highest office.

Even if WLF succeeds as a product, it damages the integrity of the space. Crypto was supposed to reduce dependence on leaders, not be captured by them.

At FOHLE, we choose a different path

We’re not here to play kingmaker or campaign coin launcher.

FOHLE is about freedom through design, wallets that protect your autonomy, infrastructure that doesn’t rely on trusting us (or anyone), and products that serve you, not politicians or insiders.

We believe that:

• Crypto should be non-partisan.
• Regulation should be independent.
• Builders should not become rulers.

Because when we lose those values, we lose what made crypto revolutionary in the first place.

TL;DR: Why It Matters

• Trump is the current president and a direct financial actor in crypto.
• His venture, WLF, could benefit from deregulation, led by him.
• This is a textbook conflict of interest, unprecedented in both politics and blockchain.
• FOHLE stands for decentralization without political capture, and we’re building the future to reflect that.

Want crypto built for you, not for someone’s political portfolio?

FOHLE Finance. In your POCKET, under CONTROL.