A $400 million crypto payday tied to the Trump family is now the focus of an escalating political firestorm, one that lawmakers say could compromise the integrity of U.S. financial regulation.
On April 2, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) sent a joint letter to SEC Acting Chair Mark Uyeda demanding “all records and communications regarding World Liberty Financial, Inc.,” the crypto firm founded by Trump associates and heavily promoted by President Donald Trump’s family.
In a scathing four-page letter, the top lawmakers on the Senate Banking and House Financial Services Committees said the family’s deep financial involvement with the firm “represents an unprecedented conflict of interest with the potential to influence the Trump Administration’s oversight—or lack thereof—of the cryptocurrency industry.”
The letter urges the SEC to preserve and provide records dating back to October 15, 2024, when WLFI began selling its $WLFI token through an exempt securities offering that has already brought in $550 million.
SEC filings and investigative reporting show WLF is closely affiliated with Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Eric Trump through an entity called DT Marks DEFI LLC.
The Trump family holds a claim to 75% of token revenue, an estimated $390 million payout to date, and 60% of future earnings from operations.
The lawmakers also questioned the SEC’s abrupt decision to pause its enforcement case against Tron founder Justin Sun, who, as an investor, poured $75 million into WLFI after being charged with fraud in 2023.
Under Acting Chair Mark Uyeda, the SEC has pivoted from aggressive enforcement to a more hands-off approach, pausing or dropping multiple crypto lawsuits, including cases against Coinbase, Kraken, Uniswap Labs, and OpenSea, among others.
In February, the SEC quietly paused its case against Sun, prompting concerns about regulatory favoritism.
Warren and Waters asked the SEC to preserve “all internal memoranda justifying the initial enforcement decision,” including records of meetings and communications between SEC officials and representatives of Justin Sun or the Trump family.
The lawmakers also asked to preserve the “communications, suggestions, or directives” made by the White House or Trump family, if any, to the SEC regarding WLFI or Sun’s case, and whether the agency consulted with ethics officials regarding the Trump family’s crypto investments.
Tensions around Trump’s crypto ties erupted on Capitol Hill Wednesday as the House Financial Services Committee passed the STABLE Act in a 32–17 vote—a bill that would create a regulatory framework for stablecoins.
The Trump-backed WLFI announced the launch of its stablecoin, USD1, just days earlier, as lawmakers were preparing to vote on the legislation, an overlap that further fueled concerns about political influence.
Democrats proposed amendments to bar the president and top officials from launching such financial products while in office. All were rejected by the Republican majority.
Against this backdrop, Warren and Waters concluded their letter bluntly, “The American people deserve to know whether their financial markets are being regulated impartially or whether regulatory decisions are being made to benefit the President’s family financial interests.”
The SEC has until April 14 to respond. Until then, the debate over crypto regulation, now tangled with allegations of presidential interests, shows no signs of cooling.
