Written by: Li Dan
Source: Wall Street Journal
Although cryptocurrencies have plummeted this year, President Trump's family appears to be trying to save face. The cryptocurrency platform they support is reshaping Wall Street's relationship with digital assets.
On Wednesday, Eastern Time, the 19th, the cryptocurrency platform World Liberty Financial, co-founded by the Trump family, hosted a conference at Mar-a-Lago. The event brought together financial industry executives, government officials, and crypto industry figures, highlighting how virtual assets have become both a policy priority and a family profit center during Trump's second term.
This event by World Liberty Financial attracted about 500 attendees, including Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon. The former cryptocurrency skeptic revealed at the conference that he holds a small amount of Bitcoin, marking a shift in his stance. Attendees also included Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao, heads of the NYSE and Nasdaq, as well as several current and former financial regulatory officials.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, in the first year of Trump's second term in 2025, the family's wealth increased by more than $10 billion due to new crypto businesses, an amount more than three times the value of Mar-a-Lago itself. World Liberty Financial, co-founded by Trump's eldest and second sons and the son of presidential envoy Witkoff, is a key pillar of this rapidly accumulated wealth.
This gathering reflects a profound shift in attitude toward cryptocurrencies from the U.S. Congress to the top echelons of domestic financial giants. Under the more friendly policy orientation of the Trump administration, despite the sharp decline in crypto asset prices, Wall Street institutions are actively positioning themselves to benefit from the recovery of crypto company listings.
Wall Street's Shift: From Skepticism to Embrace
For years, Wall Street executives have criticized cryptocurrencies. The most notable example occurred in 2022 when JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon compared this asset class to "pet rocks."
Media learned that when news of Dimon's comments broke, Solomon was on a private jet and expressed surprise that Dimon could make such flippant remarks without consequence. Solomon himself had previously been skeptical of crypto products but was more restrained in public statements, once referring to cryptocurrencies as speculative investments lacking real use cases.
At the Mar-a-Lago event on Wednesday, Solomon seemed to start taking cryptocurrencies more seriously. Solomon told the audience that he holds a "very, very limited" amount of Bitcoin and stated that he is not a "great Bitcoin prophet" but merely an observer of the asset.
This stance by Solomon may benefit business. Wall Street institutions are actively positioning themselves to benefit from the recovery of crypto company listings, after these companies experienced a harsh regulatory environment during the Biden administration.
There are also important client relationships to consider: the Witkoff family has business dealings with Goldman Sachs. Solomon said at the event: "I came because Alex Witkoff called me. When an important client of the company calls me and wants me to do something, I make time."
Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman and NYSE President Lynn Martin were also invited to attend. Both exchanges have listed companies supported by the Trump family. Over the past year, Trump's eldest son Donald Trump Jr. and second son Eric Trump have also visited these exchanges to participate in bell-ringing ceremonies.
Although Donald Trump Jr. positions World Liberty as a challenge to traditional finance, the conference still attracted other Wall Street veterans, including hedge fund managers Marc Lasry, Daniel Loeb, and Philippe Laffont.
Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson in 2022 called Bitcoin a "distraction" that diverts attention from the disruptive potential of the blockchain technology underlying virtual assets. But speaking at Mar-a-Lago, she envisioned collaboration between cryptocurrency companies and traditional financial institutions.
Johnson said: "For me, I've been trying to understand how all this is evolving, especially at the intersection of traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi)."
Government Officials Gather: The Boundary Between Regulation and Business
This event highlighted World Liberty's ability to leverage connections at the highest levels of the U.S. government, including those responsible for regulating crypto assets.
Government officials were everywhere in the resort, including Small Business Administration Administrator Kelly Loeffler and Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Michael Selig, who helps regulate the crypto industry. Selig's predecessor, acting chairman Caroline Pham, was also in the crowd; she recently accepted a position at the digital asset company MoonPay.
Faced with questions about government officials attending the event, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly stated that President Trump "has no conflicts of interest." White House counsel David Warrington said in a statement: "The President is not involved in business transactions that may implicate his constitutional duties. President Trump performs his constitutional duties ethically, and any other implication is either uninformed or malicious."
Eric Trump said on Wednesday: "The irony is that the whole world has come full circle. Some people in this room may have once been on the opposite side, who canceled our bank accounts, kicked us out of their big banks just because my father wore a hat that said 'Make America Great Again.'"
Faced with questions about potential conflicts of interest regarding new investments—including World Liberty Financial—the Trump brothers repeatedly emphasized that they are private businessmen.
Rapid Expansion: Powerful Supporters and Controversial Transactions
Although Bitcoin's market value has nearly halved since its all-time high in October 2025, severely impacting companies in the industry, World Liberty Financial continues to push forward with expansion, at a pace that has surprised almost everyone in the industry.
According to data provider CoinMarketCap, its USD1 stablecoin—a virtual asset designed to maintain its value relative to the U.S. dollar—currently has a circulation of over $5 billion, making it one of the largest stablecoins globally. The company has applied for a banking license and announced the launch of a new lending platform. It is also promoting a Trump-branded hotel project in the Maldives, allowing investors to purchase virtual tokens related to the project's development.
Even before launching any products, World Liberty Financial attracted powerful supporters. It was reported that in January 2025, just days before Trump's inauguration, an investment vehicle linked to Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, one of the most powerful figures in the Gulf region and National Security Advisor of Abu Dhabi, purchased a 49% stake in the company for $500 million, a company spokesperson later confirmed.
The report sparked strong protests from Democratic lawmakers, with some calling for the Treasury Department to investigate the transaction.
Donald Trump Jr. said in an interview that World Liberty was unfairly targeted, noting that other financiers often accept similar investments. "Because it's us, 'oh, that's the problem,'" he said.
World Liberty has ties to other foreign companies. According to a previous Bloomberg News report, its flagship stablecoin was developed with the help of Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange. Binance's Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty in 2023 to federal charges of failing to maintain an adequate anti-money laundering program for the platform. He resigned from the company and was sentenced to four months in prison. President Trump pardoned Zhao last year.
At Wednesday's event, Zhao mingled with other high-profile guests and posted on social media that he "learned a lot" from the speech by the Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The Trump Family's Stablecoin Vision: "An Upgraded Version of the Dollar"
The Trump family's move to launch USD1 breaks the default stance of the U.S. presidential family regarding the national currency monopoly since the birth of the dollar in 1792.
On Wednesday, during breaks in the Mar-a-Lago event, Trump's eldest and second sons explained to the media their rationale for why the dollar needs a modern upgrade.
World Liberty Financial promotes USD1 on its website as an improvement over the official dollar, with the brand slogan "An Upgraded Version of the Dollar," and calls the stablecoin "still the dollar, but for a new era."
Donald Trump Jr. argued: "This will actually protect dollar hegemony. There are crypto companies that are among the top five buyers in the world. This will actually stabilize the dollar and do all the things we need to do." He believes that the system of the U.S. federal government and big Wall Street banks is simply not flexible or innovative enough to drive the necessary changes.
Eric Trump said: "As Americans, we will lead the way. Who are you going to leave this to, JPMorgan? Are you going to let the federal government do it?" He believes Wall Street is too complacent and thus faces technological disruption.
However, what drives their entrepreneurship is not an inventor's passion for building a better product but a strong sense of revenge. The Trump sons believe that the broader financial system was part of the establishment that unjustly excluded them after the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, when banks generally refused to do business with the Trump family.
Donald Trump Jr. said: "We didn't get into crypto because we were on the cutting edge. We did it out of necessity. They basically forced us to do it." He called the traditional banking system a "Ponzi scheme."
Eric Trump recalled the period between his father's two presidential terms, a traumatic time for the family. "These are commercial buildings, residential buildings, golf courses around the world. They are not political entities, but they pulled these accounts from us like dogs. We couldn't pay suppliers, we couldn't pay employees. So we said, listen, there has to be a better way."
Eric Trump said: "We almost had this revenge, and suddenly we started pushing an agenda, great. Our agenda is to modernize finance so that this kind of thing never happens to anyone again."
