Crypto Bigger Than Real Estate: How World Liberty Financial Fueled Trump's $2.2-Billion Wealth Boom

Published 1 July 2026 · finance

Crypto Bigger Than Real Estate: How World Liberty Financial Fueled Trump's $2.2-Billion Wealth Boom Written By, Last Updated: July 01, 2026, 11:00 IST The US

Crypto Bigger Than Real Estate: How World Liberty Financial Fueled Trump's $2.2-Billion Wealth Boom Written By, Last Updated: July 01, 2026, 11:00 IST The US President now occupies the unusual position of being both one of the crypto industry's largest business operators and its most influential policymaker Trump’s crypto ventures brought in more than $1.4 billion, transforming what was once a small political talking point into the financial backbone of the Trump family business. (AI-Generated Image) For decades, Donald Trump’s business empire was synonymous with luxury hotels, golf courses, skyscrapers and licensing deals. But in just over a year, cryptocurrency has eclipsed real estate as the biggest source of revenue for the US president. Trump’s mandatory 2025 financial disclosure, released this week, shows that his businesses generated at least $2.2 billion in revenue last year, more than three times the roughly $622 million reported in 2024. The single biggest driver behind that surge was not property, but crypto. According to the disclosure, reported by The New York Times, Trump’s crypto ventures brought in more than $1.4 billion, transforming what was once a small political talking point into the financial backbone of the Trump family business. The filings also come as a remarkable reversal for a president who once dismissed cryptocurrencies as a “scam" and a tool for criminals. Crypto Is Now Bigger Than Real Estate Trump’s disclosure shows that crypto has overtaken the businesses that traditionally defined his fortune. ALSO READ | America First Or Family? Trump’s $1.6 Billion Kazakhstan Mining Deal Could Put Profits In His Sons’ Hands The NYT report adds that his flagship golf resorts continued to generate substantial revenue, with Trump Doral bringing in around $122 million and Mar-a-Lago earning about $77 million. International licensing agreements in countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Vietnam, Romania, India, Indonesia and Turkey added tens of millions more. But those figures pale in comparison to the money flowing from digital assets.

The filing attributes roughly $799 million in revenue to World Liberty Financial and another $636 million to sales linked to the $TRUMP memecoin. Together, those businesses generated several times more revenue than Trump’s marquee real estate properties. What Is World Liberty Financial? At the centre of Trump’s crypto empire is World Liberty Financial (WLF), a decentralised finance (DeFi) platform launched in 2024 with the backing of the president and his sons: Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Barron Trump. Unlike cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, WLF primarily revolves around its governance token, $WLFI, which allows holders to participate in certain decisions within the ecosystem, NYT explains. The project has also announced plans around decentralised lending and stablecoin infrastructure, although many of its products remain in development. According to the financial disclosure, World Liberty sold $WLFI tokens globally during 2025. The structure of those sales was particularly lucrative for the Trump family: after certain expenses were deducted, 75 per cent of proceeds from each token sale flowed to a Trump business entity, meaning revenue was generated regardless of whether the token’s market value later rose or fell. Trump personally received about $500 million from token sales during the year, up sharply from $57 million reported the previous year. Reuters has previously reported that World Liberty has positioned itself as one of the highest-profile crypto ventures directly linked to a sitting US president, making it unlike any previous presidential business interest. The UAE Deal That Drew Global Attention One of the most controversial developments involving World Liberty came shortly before Trump’s inauguration. The financial disclosure says an investment firm tied to the United Arab Emirates acquired a 49 per cent stake in World Liberty Financial. The transaction reportedly generated more than $200 million for Trump through unnamed investments. The New York Times reported that the investment was followed by an agreement between the Trump administration and the UAE involving exports of advanced artificial intelligence chips, raising questions among ethics experts about whether business interests and foreign policy had become intertwined.